Kingdom Hearts -- World Unto Dreams
by SoraLego278
Summary: When Master Xehanort's expected revival is realized, Sora & Riku are summoned by Yen Sid to take their Mark of Mastery Exams. After entering another dimension, they venture through a series of dreams to free seven "Sleeping Worlds". Dark secrets will be revealed, loyalty will be tested. Yet, what's reality and what's illusion? Only time will tell... IF there's time left!
1. Ch1 - Hidden Truths

**KINGDOM HEARTS  
**_**WORLD UNTO DREAMS**_

* * *

******DISCLAIMER: ****I OWN NOTHING EXCEPT ANY OF THE ORIGINAL CHARACTERS I MIGHT CHOOSE ALONG THE WAY!**

**A/N: If you're still feeling deeply discouraged about the discontinuation of my previous story, then I'll just state it one last time. I'M SORRY!**

**Fortunately,**** this story was recovered and will serve as a back-up. In fact, I personally feel as though THIS one will end up being better than my last.**

******NOTE: THIS story contains various elements from _Kingdom Hearts_ and several Disney Movies. These belong to BOTH Square Enix and Disney alike.**

******Furthermore, I have also incorporated a crossover with the Television Show, _CYBERCHASE_. Therefore, I don't own anything except any original characters I choose to put in!**

******Also (IF I MAY WARN YOU), this story contains more detail than I [would] normally use.**

******Do you understand? ********IF you do, then you're doing GREAT!**

******To start off, let's get underway with CHAPTER ONE!**

* * *

**CHAPTER 1  
Hidden**** Truths  
**

Far, far away in a mystical place appropriately known as the **Mysterious Tower**, King Mickey Mouse was delivering a newsflash to the retired Keyblade Master, the sorcerer, Yen Sid.

"Yen Sid," he declared in his usual high-pitched voice. "I think we're finally close to discovering where Ven's heart is."

Upon hearing this news, Yen Sid said in his own impassive voice, "Really? Then that leaves only Terra."

"Yup! And we've got to save all three of them."

Yen Sid paused for a moment before adding, "The question is… what does Xehanort intend to do next?"

"_Xehanort_," Mickey exclaimed upon hearing the former Keyblade Master's name. "How can that be?! His two halves are gone! There was Ansem who commanded the Heartless, and Xemnas who commanded the Nobodies. Didn't Sora and Riku defeat them both?"

"Correct, those two met their ends," Yen Sid agreed. "However, therein lies exactly our problem. Their deconstruction now guarantees the original Xehanort's reconstruction."

"Huh? I don't get it."

"Xehanort's heart, once seized by his Heartless half, is now free. Also, his body, which had become his Nobody, has been vanquished. Both halves will now be returned to the whole. In short, this means Master Xehanort _will_ return."

As his former teacher was explaining, Mickey began to feel more and more concerned. As Yen Sid finished speaking, the king asked, "And you think he'll try something else?"

Yen Sid replied, "A man like Xehanort would have left many roads open. It's almost as though he expected previous defeats."

"Well, it doesn't matter _what_ he plans! Sora and I will be ready for any of his schemes — Riku too!"

Yen Sid began to stroke his beard as though he was thinking very deeply. "Yes, they are indeed strong, but not true Keyblade Masters like you. The three of you might not even be enough."

Confused, Mickey questioned, "Why? Is something about to happen? Will he try to possess Riku again?!"

Yen Sid answered, "Answer this, 'Would a single true Keyblade Master and two possible Keyblade Masters-to-be suffice if what you faced was not a single one of him?"

Mickey nearly jumped from shock upon hearing this. "_What_?! What do you mean?!"

Yen Sid quickly rose from his desk. "Mickey, please summon Sora here; Riku as well."

Although he was still in shock and wonder, Mickey asked, "Of course, but… why?"

Yen Sid looked out the window and paused. A minute later, he turned his attention back to his former apprentice. He firmly stated, "To show us the Mark of Mastery."

* * *

Several lazy, uneventful, and relaxing days had already flown by for Sora, Riku, and Kairi after they had returned to their home world, **Destiny Islands**. Still, the relaxation was slowly fading out and boredom was starting to seep in to take its place.

Every day started with the same, old dreary routine: getting up early in the morning, going to school, dragging home after eight long hours, completing lengthy homework assignments together, rowing out to the island after dinner, watching the same sunset from the view of the bent palm tree, rowing all the way back home in the dark, and going to sleep until morning came.

With this robotic routine, Sora soon began to miss being able to go out on thrilling adventures. It would be ages before he would be able to completely adapt to his everlasting routine. At the moment, he was walking towards the bent tree as he had done ever since he had returned home. He leaned his body up against the tree's wide trunk. He could feel the usual sea breeze blowing through his hair as he placed his hands behind his head. He started to hear some seagulls as a voice said, "Nothing's changed, huh?"

Sora glanced to his right and spotted Riku sitting on the trunk. With his recent haircut, Riku looked like he was fifteen. The truth was he was already seventeen; Sora and Kairi were now sixteen themselves. That haircut had been insisted by the mother of Sora's best friend. She had been complaining about how her own son's hair was so long that it was always getting in his eyes. Finally, she had demanded that it get cut. Unfortunately, it made Riku look a little feminine. Sora and Kairi didn't say anything when the rest of their class laughed in mockery. A minute later, Riku had verbally threatened their lives, which only resulted in a three-day suspension. Upon finding this out, Sora had reminded Riku to be careful not to let the Darkness in his heart acquire complete control over his actions. The latter had simply responded with, "It isn't easy walking the Road to Dawn."

Despite all of this replaying within his memory, Sora continued to watch the distant sunset. He replied to Riku's question a few moments before, "Nope, nothing will."

Riku continued to stare at the sunset as he spoke softly, "What a small world… "

"But part of one that's much bigger," Sora added as he remembered that their world was only a small fraction of the vast universe beyond. As the sun continued to set further below the horizon, Sora turned his head toward Riku and questioned, "Hey Riku, what do you think it was — the Door to the Light?"

Riku hopped forwards off the trunk as Sora sat up straight. Riku pointed at the left side of Sora's chest. "That."

Sora was so amazed that he exclaimed, "My heart?!"

Riku smiled. "Yeah, it's always closer than you think."

Now knowing that the power of the Light was always with him, Sora gave a smile that revealed his clean, white teeth.

"Sora! Riku!" The voice caused the two to turn their attention toward the bridge leading over to the rest of the island. Sprinting across it was their friend, Kairi. Sora's gaze continually followed her every step as he thought back to when he had been so desperate to save this very girl from the clutches of the Nobodies within the _hated_ Organization XIII. At one point, a man named Saïx had insisted that Sora "show" how precious Kairi was to him. The result was one action Sora was still attempting to dispose from his memory. It was just too painful to have to kneel down upon his hands and knees in front of the enemy, only to discover it was a ruse; Saïx would have denied Sora access to Kairi even if he hadn't pleaded. All this gave the Keyblader was sorrow, anger, and depression. The only reason why he had kept the memory was to ponder over why the witch, Maleficent, had tried to defend him from the Nobodies. Even _that_ was unusual! What was her purpose in aiding him? Did she despise the Organization, too?

His thoughts were interrupted when Kairi stopped in front of both Riku and him. When she knelt to catch her breath, Sora curiously asked, "Hey, what's up?"

After a few gasps for air, Kairi looked up and said, "Look!"

She held up her right hand to reveal a glass bottle that was sealed by a cork. Within the transparent bottle was a sheet of paper with a logo that resembled a typical Hidden Mickey. Seeing it, Sora exclaimed, "From the King?!"

Sora rapidly snatched the bottle from Kairi's hand and pulled out the cork. He tipped the bottle upside-down, and the letter slid directly into his hands. He unfurled the rolled up paper and read it aloud as Riku and Kairi listened.

_I wanted to tell you right away,_

_About memories from the past that sleep within you,_

_And about the pieces that will tie you to your future._

_Sora, Riku, Kairi,_

_The truth behind the Keyblade,_

_Has found its way through so many people,_

_And now I know that it rests in your hearts._

_Sora,_

_You are who you are because of those people, but they're hurting,_

_And you're the only one who can end their sadness. They need you._

_It's possible that all your journeys so far, have been preparing you for this great new task that's waiting for you._

_I should have known there were no coincidences, only links in a much larger chain of events._

_And now the door to your next journey is ready to be opened._

_- Mickey  
_

After reading the letter, Sora, looked into the sky above with a blank face. Riku turned to him and questioned, "Are you sure that you want to go on another quest?"

Sora climbed onto the palm tree — the letter and bottle still in his hands. Kairi added, "Sora, what's wrong?"

Sora showed no indication of acknowledgement. Riku turned to Kairi and said, "His heart must be thinking… "

Kairi paused, still unsure what Riku meant by "thinking". She simply shrugged, not wishing for a dull, lengthy speech in reply. Instead, she said, "Let's check in with him at sunrise."

Riku nodded, knowing that Kairi was assuming the same thing he was. They casually left the islet, allowing Sora to continue sitting on the palm tree in solitude. In the distance, the sun continued to set below the horizon. The shadows slowly lengthened and the air steadily grew cooler until the sun finally vanished from plain sight. As the stars came out and the moon rose into the sky, Sora stuttered, "I wonder who's hurting… "

* * *

As the sun rose the next morning, Sora was still staring out at the horizon from his place upon the palm tree. He had been relentlessly deep in thought overnight. His head was starting to hurt when a voice called out, "Sora?"

In less than an instant, Sora turned around and saw Riku walking towards him. Riku stopped at the end of the bridge and looked out at the horizon. He asked, "Your mind's made up?"

Sora quickly nodded. "Yeah."

A few moments later, another voice said, "Sora?"

Sora looked down from his position and spotted Kairi looking back, a smile on her face. He jumped off the tree for the first time in hours before turning to her. He stammered, "Kairi, I… I _really_ need to do this. I have to go; I am who I am because of them. When they're safe and secure, I'll be back."

Riku smiled at Sora's shyness towards Kairi. Kairi smiled brightly as the light from the rising sun made her auburn hair blend in with the few clouds in the sky above. Her blue eyes still gave the same sparkle of the sunlight reflecting off the surface of the ocean that had always captured Sora's eyes. She reached into his hand and said, "See you soon. Don't ever forget, wherever you go, I'm always with you."

She removed her hand to reveal her pink, star-shaped, thalassic-shell, lucky charm. Sora gave a deep smile in response.

* * *

The clouds were getting darker as the wind picked up over the deep, blue ocean several miles off the coast of a nearby tropical archipelago. In the middle of the gradually steeping waves, a little, wooden raft with a single sail was beginning to slow down. The raft's two occupants, Sora and Riku, had just taken notice of what was coming upon them. Sora said, "Riku, a storm is coming."

"I know. The waves are getting steeper by the minute." Riku agreed. He turned towards the raft's mast. "I'll furl the sail."

"Right," Sora acknowledged. "Better to be safe than sorry."

Sora knelt down onto the edge of the deck to check how tall the waves were becoming. He stared into the murky water for a moment as he began to wonder if this was what would've happened had the two set off with Kairi. It was thanks to her arrival on the island that they had been encouraged to seek a practical method to venture forth into the unknown for the opportunity to explore the outside world, right? Then again, maybe there was more to their desire of adventure than even he understood. The only question was… what?

All at once, there was a loud _**CRACK**_ from behind him followed by the sound of Riku yelling. Sora instantly clambered onto his feet only to see that the mast had snapped off the raft. To make matters worse, Riku was nowhere to be seen. Despite being in a state of terror, Sora had to raise his voice enough to be heard above the howling gales as he called out, "Riku! Where are you?!"

A nearby voice shouted back, "I'm fine!"

Sora spun around and spotted Riku clinging to what was left of the mast about twenty yards away. The latter was struggling to keep his head above the swift-moving waves. Sora continued to watch him until a large pool of dark matter rapidly formed nearby. Riku managed to get his balance as he stood up on the mast. He gasped from shock when he saw the murky water grow darker. "What's that?!"

"Whatever it is, it can't be good." Sora answered.

Moments later, a half-human half-octopus creature emerged with a deep, evil laugh. The figure sat up before looking straight down at Sora. She smirked, "He was right; those wretched guppies are here. Well, it's about time we settled the score!"

"**_Ursula?!_**" Sora exclaimed, unable to believe his eyes. Last he recalled, Ursula had been eliminated — _twice_. Originally, she had allied herself with the Heartless while trying to conquer the kingdom of **_Atlantica_**. Her plans fell through when she had searched for the world's keyhole, but was stopped before she could find it. About a year later, Ursula was revived by Maleficent. That time, Sora had carefully timed his attack to knock the Trident out of her hands, which allowed Prince Eric to throw the weapon straight into her. Thus, she had vanished into the Darkness yet again. Why the sea witch was back, he couldn't understand. All he could say was, "Why are _you_ here?"

"You know her?" a bewildered Riku exclaimed.

Sora nodded. "I took her down two times before with Donald and Goofy. I don't know how she came back. Could it be… the **_test_**?"

Riku shrugged in response. "Who knows? Now's not the time to think about it."

"Right! Let's do this!"

Riku nodded back. Hearing all this, Ursula snapped, "Sorry dearies, but I won't fall for that trick!"

As Sora and Riku summoned their Keyblades, Ursula snapped aloud, "You dare toy with me?!"

Sora retorted, "If I've beaten you once, I'm beaten you a thousand times!"

"I always help my friends — no matter what!" Riku added.

"You insignificant fools!" Ursula hollered. She raised one of her tentacles and slammed it down upon the raft. Fortunately, Sora had jumped off and landed onto one of her other tentacles. Riku quickly hopped to another one nearby. Looking back, they realized that the impact had destroyed their raft. All that was left were several floating logs. Although shocked, the two resolved to attack Ursula.

Ursula snarled at them, "Time to teach you some _respect_!"

She reached out her giant hand and plucked Sora right off his feet. She began to laugh until Riku jumped into the air. With a grunt of his voice, Riku slammed his Keyblade onto the sea witch's fist, forcing her to release Sora.

Next, Sora jumped up and slapped his weapon against Ursula's face. She groaned from the sudden impact before turning back to the two with a reddish glow coming from her eyes. She shouted at the duo, "Now I'm angry! You will pay for this!"

Realizing that there was only one thing left to do, Sora pointed his Keyblade at the villainess. Riku saw what his friend was doing and did the same. Two beams of light shone out from the tips of their weapons. The beams merged together before aiming at Ursula directly. The villainess gasped as the light grew ever closer. A yell of agony echoed from her mouth as she was struck by the beams. A bright glare engulfed the entire area for a moment. When it disappeared, Ursula started to fade out of existence.

As the sea witch vanished without a trace, Sora and Riku lost their footing on her tentacles, causing them to fall into the quick-moving water below. As Sora and Riku landed into the ocean, the force of the storm sucked them down headfirst.

As the two best friends began to lose consciousness, a bright glow from below appeared. Several feet below them, the light of a keyhole-shape glistened. As if by instinct, their Keyblades automatically pointed straight for it. Two more beams of light shone out and struck the keyhole simultaneously. A bright flash of light shone out from it and consumed the two. They disappeared into the light as quickly as a flickering candle goes out.

Up on the ocean's surface above the keyhole, a figure whose body was concealed entirely by a brown-hooded robe, was carefully observing the entire event. As the light disappeared below, it spoke out to no one in particular,

"**THIS WORLD… HAS BEEN CONNECTED."**

* * *

Yen Sid pressed onward, "Therefore, it has come time for you two, Sora and Riku, to show the Mark of Mastery. No doubt you think of yourselves as masters already, but it takes years of training and a proper master to show you the way. Although you two are self-taught Keyblade wielders — a very impressive feat, the time has come for both of you to let go of any preconceived notions you may have, forget what you know about the Keyblade, and begin your training anew with a clean slate."

Everyone nearly jumped out of their skin when they heard this. Sora blurted, "But that's a formality, right?! I've _already_proved myself! Riku and I can handle anything together! Right?"

Despite Sora's energized attitude, Riku was looking downwards. He said, "I don't know. I believe, in my heart, Darkness still has a hold. Walking down that path changed me. Am I ready to wield a Keyblade? Perhaps I should be tested."

Sora was astonished and befuddled. All the same, he turned his attention back to Yen Sid. "In that case, put _me _through the test, too! Just watch us; Riku and I will pass with flying colors!"

As the words registered in his mind, Yen Sid nodded. He then declared, "Very well then. Sora and Riku, let your examinations commence."

* * *

**A/N: There you are! THE FIRST CHAPTER!**

**I know it may give the sensation of _Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream, Drop, Distance_. However, it is imperative that I inform you that I started making this story to create my OWN perspective of how I saw _Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream, Drop, Distance_ could have turned out had they added more depth to its storyline. The reason why I added a crossover is because I never had heard of _The World Ends With You_ before _Kingdom Hearts 3D_****was released.**

**You might even have noticed the letter from King Mickey. According to the ending of _Kingdom Hearts: Re Coded_, those are the EXACT words of the letter shown at the end of _Kingdom Hearts 2_!**

**Okay! I know I've just been yakking away for who knows how long!**

**Just recall this [important] reminder, PLEASE DON'T LEAVE WITHOUT REVIEWING! THE FATE OF THIS STORY DEPENDS ON IT!**

**********This is SoraLego278 saying, "See Ya Later, Keybladers!"**


	2. Ch2 - Linked Through Déjà Vu

**DISCLAIMER: I OWN NOTHING BUT ANY ORIGINAL CHARACTERS!**

**A/N: It's CHAPTER 2! YAHOO! YEE-HAW! HALLELUJAH! HIP-HIP-HORRAY! YES!**

**Okay ... Maybe a little TOO MUCH enthusiasm. This is ONLY Chapter 2!**

**Either way, I wanted to inform you that this chapter not only introduces the Crossover I mentioned in Chapter 1, but it also serves as a major point of transition from _Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream, Drop__,__ Distance_ into my version, but I also placed a hint towards an ORIGINAL CHARACTER somewhere within! Rumor has it that this story follows a similar pattern to _Kingdom Hearts__ 3D_, except for that character's inclusion.**

**Chapter 3 MAY reveal their identity, but they are technically the "pivot point" in the story's shift to the direction I intended for it.**

**That may seem [slightly] weird (even I sometimes think so), but it will be more clear as the story continues...**

**...Starting - NOW!**

* * *

**CHAPTER 2**  
**Linked Through Déjà Vu**

Sora quickly opened his eyes almost immediately after he had felt a light breeze blow across his face. He instantly grew aware of his surroundings while noticing he was standing in a cobblestone-built plaza. A few oddly-shaped streetlamps lit up the night air around him, revealing several old, wooden buildings. His eyes grew wide with puzzlement until a feeling of familiarity crept upon him. He softly said, "Is this… **Traverse Town**?"

He looked down at his hands, only to discover his outfit had transformed. His shirt was now red with a large, black "X" in the middle of it. His shorts were also red, while his shoes were a yellowish color. He felt his hair and realized for the very first time in weeks how spiked it was. It had been barely three days after Sora and Riku had finally completed their adventures and brought down Xehanort's Nobody [Xemnas] when Sora had first realized his hair was not used to the humidity of the island he had been living on for years. The difference of nearly two years of quests had been plenty for his brown, spikey hair to flatten and unleash a foul-smelling odor. For three hours, he had consecutively washed, combed, and applied ridiculously extreme amounts of gel to his hair. In the end, his hopes came to light when his hair had regained its former appearance. Just as well, Kairi had tried to keep her distance until the smell had vanished.

"What happened to my clothes?!" Sora thought for a minute before concluding, "Must be more of Master Yen Sid's magic."

He looked around his immediate position, only to quickly discover something was missing. There was no sign of the friend he had set off with; his companion during the battle upon the raft's deck. He suddenly exclaimed, "What happened to _Riku_?!"

He shouted as loud as he could, "Riku! Hello, Riku!"

A voice exclaimed, "Who is _that_?!"

Another added, "Is he the one that guy was looking for?"

"Or he could be working for Hacker!"

Sora spun around to see two people looking at him with hesitant, flabbergasted expressions. One of them was a boy wearing a long, green jacket, blue jeans, red shoes, and a red backpack on his back. The other was a girl wearing a yellow sweater with a light-blue, denim skirt, a red necklace and bracelet, and dullish-lavender shoes. The only thing Sora could say was, "Who are you?"

His question went unanswered. Instead, the two started whispering to one another, forcing Sora to wait patiently for a few minutes. In the end, the strangers turned back and the boy asked, "Have you seen a tall, green guy with a pointy chin, purple cape, and black wig?"

Sora was downright perplexed, having never encountered anyone who matched their description. Although, it sounded like a weird-looking figure; Sora himself couldn't even picture it. He crossed his arms in thought, only to respond, "Who do you mean?"

The two pre-teens looked at one another with looks of relief. They turned back to Sora. The Keyblade wielder noticed that they now had smiles on their faces. The boy said, "Sorry for the unpleasant welcome. I'm Matt. This is Jackie."

Sora nodded in reply. Jackie spoke up, "What's your name?"

Sora answered, "I'm Sora."

"Nice to meet you, Sora." Matt said.

Sora nodded. "Have you two seen a guy named Riku?"

When Matt and Jackie looked puzzled, Sora gave a deep sigh. A moment later, a group of strange creatures appeared out of the middle of nowhere. Matt exclaimed, "Not again!"

"Where did they come from?" Jackie added.

"What are they?!" Sora stated in horror. When the monsters began to march closer, he realized they were about to strike an attack. The only thing he could do was summon his Keyblade and counterattack them. He swiped, swung, and slashed his weapon through each and every one of the monsters until they had all been vanquished.

Upon eliminating the last one, Sora put his Keyblade away. Matt and Jackie came up to him with looks of amazement.

Matt said, "Man! You sure are a good swordsman."

Jackie agreed, "You must be a soldier."

"Uh… I guess you could say that." Sora sputtered. He wasn't used to hearing people compliment him on his level of skill. Even so, his cheeks failed to turn red.

The unforeseen sound of footsteps echoed from nearby. The group turned their attention towards its source. For a moment, there was nobody around. The next moment, a tall, figure stepped out from behind one of the crookedly designed lampposts illuminating the plaza. To Sora's shock and horror, the figure's body was shrouded by a black-hooded coat, black boots, and thick winter-like gloves that also matched the color of the dark abyss. Although its face was not visible underneath the hood, the Keyblader was repelled by the sight. He couldn't believe it; the stranger bore the unmistakably unique resemblance of a member of the defeated Organization XIII. In spite of this, Sora managed to yell at the top of his lungs, "_No way_!"

As Sora swiftly summoned his Keyblade, the figure turned and started to sprint down one of the streets leading from the plaza. The former was about to pursue when Matt snarled, "Hey, we had a deal! We found who you asked for!"

"Yeah! Where'd you see them?!" Jackie added. The two pre-teens raced after the stranger. Sora was feeling either flabbergasted, mystified, startled, or a combination of all three when he called after them, "Guys, _don't_! _They're too dangerous_!"

When the two kept scurrying after the figure, Sora sighed in frustration. He quickly took off after them. Along the way, several more monsters started to come after him. He huffed and puffed as he slashed, slammed, and sliced through the weird creatures. As he did so, Sora began to wonder if they were anything similar to the Heartless or Nobodies he had fought in his previous missions. The main difference was that these brutes seemed to act upon instinct, yet they lacked hearts. They were often in the forms of animals; bats, cats, dogs, and pandas. Another unusual characteristic was that, like the synthetic, Heartless, they came in a variety of colors.

After fighting a few miniature hordes of the creatures for a couple hundred yards, Sora stopped to calm down. He huffed and wheezed as he felt his chest. As he sensed his heart was racing almost to the maximum it could handle without having a heart attack, the dizzying Keyblade wielder collapsed onto his stomach. In the process, his Keyblade slipped from his fingers and clattered onto the street. He glanced towards it as his vision blurred. The weapon magically vanished from sight. The colors of the city faded into a mushy piece of artwork as he finally caught his breath. He coughed a few times before sleepily wondering, "Why am I… suddenly so… sleepy… "

His head landed onto the ground with a small _**THUD**_. His eyesight slowly darkened as his eyelids sealed shut. As the blackness from his perspective became complete, Sora calmly relaxed and gave into an unexplainable, soothing nap.

* * *

Riku slowly opened his eyes and yawned. He took a look around as his vision gradually came into focus. Realizing that he had been asleep while standing gave an awkward feeling. Ironically, he couldn't recall ever falling asleep. Looking down, he realized he was now wearing a zipped white vest and blue pants. Yet, his shoes had not reformed. He felt his hair, only to discover it hadn't altered either. He wondered aloud, "My clothes have changed?"

He took a quick sweep of the area and realized that he was standing in what appeared to be a marble plaza. At the center was a large, flowing fountain; the summit of it resembled what would have been perceived as a snapshot of Lady and the Tramp eating spaghetti and meatballs. Encompassing the plaza was a wealth of cobblestone streets that were bordered by wooden sidewalks, connecting various wooden buildings with peaked rooftops. Lampposts were barely illuminating the nightly air while multitudes of stars shone in the sky far up above. He exclaimed, "Am I in… **Traverse Town**?"

"Sora," Riku shouted aloud. "Sora, where are you?"

Getting no response from anything, Riku placed his hand upon his chin in contemplation. He recalled having fallen off a raft when Ursula had attacked. Next, he had assisted Sora in defeating the cruel sea witch. When she had been decimated, he had fallen from his place on her tentacle into the rushing waves below. Yet, he had no recollection as to what had happened next. He turned to his right and stepped up to the fountain. He looked upon the marble structure when he suddenly recollected the missing part of the story. He said to no one in particular, "After Ursula attacked… I think we opened a keyhole."

He looked down at his right palm. "My Keyblade… just came to me when I needed it most."

He looked around the rest of the plaza only to notice a few wooden buildings with peaked rooftops nearby. He gave a smirked grin as he closed his eyes in marvel. "This must be one of the Sleeping Worlds. How ironic… "

"Whoa! Where'd _you_ come from?!"

Riku spun around to see someone staring at him in wonder. It was a purple robotic bird with a pelican-shaped beak, propeller for a tail, two short legs with yellow tennis shoes on the feet, a light grey door on the chest with a red bowtie above it, a backwards baseball cap that bore a scarlet color and a mini antennae on top, and two round eyes, which were currently staring at the Keyblader. Riku calmly questioned, "Who are you?"

The bird spoke in a heavily-parroted accent, "How do I know I can trust you? What's your name?"

"Riku."

"Do you know a guy with a pointy chin and purple cape?"

"Who?!" Riku asked in complete perplexity.

The bird gave a deep sigh of relief. "I'm Digit LeBoid. Sorry about my greeting, Earthling. I don't feel safe around here."

"Huh? What's an 'Earthling'?"

Digit was so puzzled, he just stared back. "Huh?! Are you new to _Cyberspace_?"

Riku's shrugging shoulders answered that. Digit smacked himself on the face when it occurred to him whom he was talking to. The cyboid started pacing around back and forth muttering aloud, "This is just great! First Hacker agrees to give Ledge a second chance, and they team up with Wicked. Then the kids and I head for the Northern Frontier to stop them all, only to get caught in a trap. Next thing I know, we're all scattered in another dimension — no thanks to the spell of that Wicked Witch. Now, I'm talking to someone who has no idea what I'm saying!"

Riku watched him in bewilderment when Digit's feet froze. He snarled, "When I get my hands on… "

"Hey, are you alright?" Riku asked. Digit snapped back into attention, finally noticing that he had been talking out loud. He blushed, even though his cheeks only turned a slight pink.

"Oh sorry," Digit said with a hint of embarrassment. "I forgot you were standing there."

Riku gave a smirk smile in reply. He thought for a quick minute when it occurred to him that Digit was from a place he did not recognize; maybe another world he'd never heard of before. He finally said, "So, where did you say you're from?"

Digit instantly answered, "_Cyberspace_; the final frontier. It's a place where anyone can go and anything can happen."

Riku began to ponder upon what he had just heard. As far as he could comprehend, it sounded like the sleeping world of Traverse Town had drifted into an intersection between two unrelated universes. Nevertheless, he was able to detect that something regarding that theory wasn't entirely accurate. His eyes focused directly onto Digit while he queried, "Could this town be anywhere within this '_Cyberspace_' you mentioned?"

Digit shook his head. "Probably not, but it does feel a lot like the Northern Frontier."

Riku paused in deep consideration. All at once, he recollected one of the minor details he and Sora had been informed about shortly before leaving on this journey.

* * *

_After explaining about the ancient war, Master Yen Sid spoke up, "Now then, if you recall correctly, you two brought back countless worlds from within the Darkness when Xehanort's Heartless was defeated by your extraordinary efforts."_

_Sora and Riku both nodded in agreement. Yet, Yen Sid continued, "Although those worlds were restored back to their original states, some of them didn't return completely. They now sleep within the boundaries of what I've perceived as another dimension. From within, these worlds are continuing to drift soundlessly about. Some might very well be on the edges of any other universes beyond ours. Should that be the case, anyone from those universes could also find their way into ours given they are also locked in the same dimension."_

_Riku gave a nod of understanding while he heard Yen Sid finish with the words, "Be **vigilant**!"_

* * *

As the flashback faded, Riku said to himself, "So, this place must be drifting between two universes. How about that?"

"How about what?" Digit questioned the Keyblader.

Riku paused. "Well… how'd you get here?"

"You wanna know how? I'll _tell_ you how! It was that no-good Hacker who sent us here."

Riku stared at him in disbelief. "Us," he interrupted. "You weren't alone?"

Digit shook his head. "Nope! I was with Matt, Jackie, Inez, Slider, Jules, and Fluff. Hacker had Wicked send us all to a place where we wouldn't be able to interfere with his latest plan to take over _Cyberspace_. He's got a whole new scheme up his sleeve. He's probably wreaking havoc while we're —"

"Wait," Riku blurted. "Who's this Hacker? Is he here?"

Digit shrugged his wings with a look of uncertainty in his eyes. "I have no idea. But, I did see Buzz and Delete hanging around. If I find the kids, we can foil whatever Hacker's planning to do to Motherboard; he is her worst enemy."

"Buzz? Delete? Who are they?"

Digit rolled his eyes as he groaned in frustration. He wasn't used to answering so many questions in such a short amount of time. "Just know they're two cyborgs who work for the Hacker."

Riku thought for a few minutes. If this Hacker truly was up to something as bad as Maleficent or Organization XIII had been, then he _had_ to help — Sora, too. If the two succeeded in helping Digit and his friends, they might locate the Sleeping Keyhole. He concluded, "So, if we find all these friends of yours, you should be able to restore order, right?"

"Bingo!" Digit nodded.

Riku stood up straight. "Alright! Let's go find them."

"You'd help me?!" Digit asked.

"Yeah," Riku nodded. "Besides, we may come across Sora."

Digit stopped dead in his place. "Who's _Sora_? Is he also up to something?"

Riku gave a smirked grin at this gawky assumption. He opened his mouth to explain when a large pack of strange monsters appeared in the plaza, confounding the pair. As the Keyblade wielder instinctively summoned his Keyblade, Digit squawked in fear, "Not again!"

Riku marched up to attack the creatures, when a group of similar animals hurried over. The only difference was that these ones were rainbow-colored. To their surprise, Riku and Digit watched as the new arrivals swiftly charged into the plaza and eliminated all of the circus-colored monsters that were about to attack. The two gave sighs of relief, when they discovered that their rescuers were now surrounding them instead. Riku held up his Keyblade in case one of them tried to do any harm, while Digit was cowering down directly back-to-back with him; his wings covering his terrified eyes. Riku surveyed the entire group of creatures, only to observe behavior that was the complete opposite from the others; not a single one appeared to be hostile. They were coming up with smiles on their faces. When Digit peeked out from behind his wing, he was greatly baffled. He declared, "What do they think we are? Chopped liver?"

Riku grinned at the sight of so many child-friendly creatures. Their appearances resembled cats, dogs, bats, and pandas. He remarked, "Who knows? They are kind of cute… "

Digit snickered to himself when he heard Riku say that last statement. He placed his wings over his mouth in shame when he thought Riku had noticed. Instead, Riku just shook his head with a smile on his face. In his opinion, Digit was acting just like Sora.

"Help! Ahhh!"

The two nearly jumped out of their shoes at the sound of the voice. They stared down a nearby shadow-infested street.

With a voice filled with panic, Digit exclaimed, "What was _that_?!"

"Whatever it was, it didn't sound good," Riku responded, holding out his Keyblade. He charged down the street, Digit panting behind.

When they reached the end of the street, the two found themselves face-to-face with a gigantic creature that resembled a flying dinosaur with a red head and beak, yellow wings, and orange body and tail. It was relentlessly swooping around a smaller plaza decorated with purple-colored stone; a three-floor hotel situated directly beyond. As Riku swept his eyes across the plaza for the source of the scream, Digit hollered, "Matt! Jackie!"

Riku turned his eyes to where the alarmed Digit was facing. To his surprise, two pre-teens were ducking down in the plaza near the hotel. Seeing that the creature overhead was stalking the duo, he shouted out, "Leave them alone!"

The monster stopped what it had been doing and turned to face the Keyblade wielder running up to it. When he was close enough, Riku paused in his footsteps and pointed his Keyblade directly at it in a taunting style. Like he had intended, the animal turned its full attention to the Keyblader's challenge. Riku was about to jump and slash his weapon through the enemy when the herd of friendly creatures swarmed into the plaza. Startled, Riku called out, "Hey! It's not safe!"

Ironically, the new arrivals charged at the monster, forcing it to flee out of sight. While most of the creatures had continued to give chase, a group of five stayed behind in the plaza. Awestruck at such an unbelievable sight, Riku didn't know what to say. When two of the creatures approached him, Riku gave a deep sigh. "Perfect," he complained. "How will I do _anything_ without these guys showing up?"

Digit walked up to him, followed by the two kids they had rescued. Digit introduced everyone, "Riku, this is Matt and Jackie. Matt and Jackie, this is Riku."

"Hey," was the only thing Riku could think to say. He noticed that Matt and Jackie were looking at him in surprise.

"Riku," Matt began. "_Your_ name is Riku?!"

"Um… yeah? What else would it be?"

Jackie looked like she was mesmerized. "You're the one Sora mentioned!"

"Sora," Riku exclaimed in amazement. He hadn't considered that someone else might have come across his best friend. "You guys know Sora?!"

Matt explained, "Yeah! We saw him while trying to outrun some of those other monsters that kept coming after us. He destroyed them all with incredible fighting skills."

"Where is he?" Riku begged. To him, it sounded like Sora might be nearby. Unfortunately, the two shrugged in answer. Jackie said, "We're not sure where he is. We got separated from him when that guy came along. Next thing we knew, we were lost the maze of streets around here."

"Wait," Riku blurted out. "What guy?"

Matt and Jackie looked at each other for a moment before turning back to the Keyblade wielder. The latter noticed their faces looked like they had seen a ghost. Jackie began, "We're not sure. He was completely covered in a black coat."

"_Black coats_?!" Riku exclaimed from shock.

Matt nodded before saying, "He said he would take us to our friends if we helped him find someone. When he broke his word, he summoned that dinosaur thing. What a liar!"

Riku paused taking in everything he was being told. Based on what he had just heard, Matt and Jackie had been looking for their friends when a guy in a black coat had appeared, making a deal to locate their friends in return for finding someone he wanted. Still, who were their friends? Was Digit one of them? The bird had mentioned being with several others including Matt, Jackie, and… whoever they were. Maybe those two had been searching for Digit and the others he still hadn't met yet. If what Digit had first said proved to be accurate, then this Hacker guy's assistants were somewhere in town — probably keeping the others that were still unaccounted for in captivity. On the other hand, there was also a guy in a black coat wandering about. Could that have been Hacker himself trying to lure them into a trap? That didn't make sense either; Matt and Jackie might've recognized him. For that matter, who was that stranger searching for in the first place? Could be him, Sora, or… _both_?! If so, then this exam was going to take a turn into a completely different direction.

"Well," Riku finally said. "We should probably continue to look around town. We might find Sora and your friends."

"Can these guys come?" Matt asked, gesturing to one of the remaining creatures. The one he was referring to resembled an orange bat with blue wings. The creature gave a squeal of shyness at being noticed.

"Absolutely _not_!" Digit snapped with a pair of angry eyes upon his face.

Jackie knelt down to pet one of the monsters that looked like a cat. "Aw…, but they're so cute… " she observed.

"I know what you mean," Riku muttered aloud with a small grin forming upon his face. He began to think what Sora and Kairi would think of this. He quickly disregarded the idea of Sora discovering about his 'soft spot' — _that_ would be very mortifying.

"And they're really cool," Matt agreed. "Did you see how they charged after that monster?"

"Well I don't care," Digit snarled. "Those guys are full of nothing but trouble. We already have _enough_ to worry about! We shouldn't be babysitting for some _monsters_!"

At the sound of the term 'monsters,' the creatures all looked down in despair; the bat covered its eyes with its wings as though preventing anyone from watching it shed tears. Jackie's smile turned to a disapproving look. Turning to Digit, she assumedly said, "I think you offended them, Digit."

"So true!"

The group jumped at the sound of the clear, yet sharp, voice; their eyes darted this way and that trying to pinpoint it's source. Matt exclaimed, "What was that?!"

"If you were careful with your words, you wouldn't hurt the feelings of those Spirits!"

Riku suddenly turned his head upwards when he thought that the voice was getting louder. To his amazement, a girl was sitting on the rooftop of the hotel beside the plaza. She had violet hair, a violet dress, and violet sandals. She was wearing a necklace bearing a symbol that appeared to be a cross between the Heartless emblem and the logo of Organization XIII. At the moment, Riku was sure this was an illusion; a total figment of his imagination along with everything else that was happening.

As he continued to look up at her in awe, a sudden dizziness rocked his brain. He quickly placed his left hand upon his forehead, only to start to feel like he had just ran faster than he ever imagined was possible from the island's school building all the way to the shoreline dipping into the ocean. His arms grew weaker as he dropped his Keyblade; the weapon vanishing next to him as he landed onto his back on the plaza. As his vision blurred, exhaustion took over, and he started to give in, Riku softly wondered aloud, "What's… happening? I'm so… sleepy… "

In a matter of minutes, Riku had collapsed upon the ground for a peaceful, uneventful, nap.

* * *

"Long ago, during the age of fairy tales, the world was filled with Light; a gift many believed from an unseen power known as _Kingdom Hearts_. You see, Kingdom Hearts was protected by its counterpart; the **_χ-blade_**." Master Yen Sid said as Sora, Riku, King Mickey, Donald Duck, and Goofy all listened. The retired Keyblade Master was currently telling them the true story of the legendary Keyblade War to help them understand where the Keyblade had originated from, it's connection to the heart of all worlds, and what their duties would involve once they acquired the title of 'Keyblade Master.'

Yen Sid continued, "Desiring the Light all for themselves, mankind forged weapons called 'Keyblades' in the image of the original χ-blade and waged a great war against Kingdom Hearts; this event is what we know as the Keyblade War. Keyblades of Light and Darkness clashed together against the powerful χ-blade, thus causing the first shadows to be cast upon the land. Although the war extinguished all Light from the world, even the deepest of Darkness could not reach the small glimmers of Light within each child's heart. With these fragments of the Light, the world was remade as we know it today — countless smaller worlds scattered around, yet grouped into separate realms to keep the Darkness and Light from overtaking one another. Sadly, the precious Light, the one true Kingdom Hearts, was swallowed by the Darkness — never to be seen again. As long as it remains there, even the brightest of worlds will have its dark corners."

"What about that 'Keyblade,'" Goofy blurted out before anyone could stop him. Master Yen Sid turned to him, "I was just about to explain that."

He turned back to Sora and Riku and pressed onward, "As for the χ-blade, it did not survive the battle. The two elements that created it — one of Light and one of Darkness — shattered into twenty pieces; seven of Light and thirteen of Darkness. These seven Lights became the purest of hearts belonging to the seven Princesses of Heart. They represent all Light in the world. To protect it, some decided to use the Keyblade — a weapon devised to conquer the Light — to defend the Light instead. These new warriors were the first heroes of the Keyblade."

As Yen Sid finished, Riku began to feel uneasy. Having walked down the path of Darkness, he knew he would have to be careful from here on out to keep the Darkness within his control.

* * *

**A/N: ...And there you have it! The crossover happens to be the [former] PBS-KIDS-GO T.V. Show, _CYBERCHASE_. I personally thought it was one of the BEST educational shows I'd ever seen - after _The Magic School Bus_ of course! It only seemed fitting to incorporate it into my story as I had never heard of _The World Ends With__ You_ prior to _Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream, Drop,__ Distance_. Therefore, it made the most sense (to me) to have Sora and Riku meet them.**

**A question you're probably wondering is how I managed to spell "χ-blade" so accurately. Well, to tell the truth, "χ" happens to be a GREEK LETTER!  
After doing some research, I discovered its identity... and found it was a symbol I could add on Microsoft Word. Talk about irony, correct?**

**Though there may be some pondering over the "girl" Riku noticed before falling asleep, I wanted to state that she MIGHT VERY WELL be my own ORIGINAL CHARACTER!**

**After all of the above, I just have one last thing to say; PLEASE DON'T LEAVE WITHOUT REVIEWING! THE FATE OF THIS STORY DEPENDS ON IT!**

**This is SoraLego278 saying, "See Ya Later, Keybladers!"**


	3. Ch3 - Wishful — Anonymous Allies

**DISCLAIMER: I OWN NOTHING BUT ANY OF MY ORIGINAL CHARACTERS!**

**A/N: After the entire length of... A DAY, Chapter 3 is READY TO READ!**

**The MAIN THING I want to point out is that THIS chapter reveals the identity of my own ORIGINAL CHARACTER! So to get it over with, DO NOT ASK TO USE HIM/HER! I WILL AUTOMATICALLY SAY NO! IF YOU HAVE A PROBLEM, COMPLAIN TO THE CREATORS OF COPYRIGHT LAW(S)!**

**... Sorry about "raising my voice" so much, but whenever it comes to my own characters, I can easily get especially "protective" of them.**

**Despite all this, the time has come! You are to read what has been... well... WRITTEN!**

**... JUST READ!**

* * *

**CHAPTER ****3  
****Wishful — ****Anonymous Allies**

Sora slowly opened his eyes as he looked around the immediate area in front of him. His vision gradually came into focus as he came to realize that he was lying on his stomach. The Keyblader got onto his hands and knees as he took in his surroundings. First one foot, then the other, and finally he was on his feet. After brushing some dust off his clothing, Sora looked around only to spot a teenager looking back in question. He was wearing a red short-sleeved sweat-shirt with a yellow spot, a long-sleeved white shirt underneath, light brown shorts, and orange sneakers with white socks. He was also wearing a yellow-orange skating helmet. Hopping off his skateboard, the teenager said, "Are you alright?"

Sora nodded while saying, "Yeah! Thanks… um… "

"Name's Slider," the teenager verified, placing his feet upon the skateboard.

"Thanks Slider," Sora acknowledged. "You're a _lifesaver_!"

"Yeah," Slider said as he started skateboarding down the street ahead. Sora was stunned.

"Hey," the Keyblader called after the newcomer. "Where're you going? I need to find someone!"

Slider paused and looked back at him. "Not my problem."

Sora was taken aback. For the first time since the adventure had begun, he could not decide how to respond to this stranger. After another long moment, he spoke up, "But… there's a man in a black coat wandering about!"

"Just became my problem." Slider murmured aloud.

Sora was now starting to feel exceptionally discouraged. "I need to stop him! This town's not safe!"

Slider paused and placed his right index finger onto his chin in thought. A few moments later, he yelled back, "Come on!"

He swiftly rode down the street. Sora rolled his eyes in exasperation before racing along after the skateboarder. He couldn't believe what he was doing. First, he had gotten separated from Riku upon arriving in this isolated realm of unspecified worlds inhabited by an assortment of peculiar individuals, unforeseen anomalies, and unanticipated predicaments constantly popping up all around. He was still wondering where Riku had ended up. Hopefully, this skateboarder named Slider, or whoever he really was, was someone who could be trusted. For all he knew, this teen was leading him into an ambush.

After rounding several corners and taking a few side-streets, Sora was convinced he was in an unidentified section of the town he had never realized existed. What's more, the architecture had transitioned from wooden buildings with peaked roofs, cobblestone streets, and wooden sidewalks into a large plaza with only a few structures. Clusters of balloons were positioned at various spots throughout the plaza whilst a number of round tents were situated by wooden posts. Rainbow-colored banners were strung all around, even though the plaza was otherwise deserted. He marveled at the sight of what he quickly conceived as a carnival. Despite the lack people, Sora watched where he was going as Slider got off his skateboard and signaled him to follow. There was still the possibility that this teen might be in league with the man in the black coat.

All at once, Slider stopped and pointed to a nearby tent. Sora nodded, keeping aware of his surroundings in case it was a trap. As Slider went into the tent, Sora thought he heard voices. Although he was prepared to summon his Keyblade in case of an emergency, the Keyblade wielder stepped inside after the skateboarder. Within, a surprised Sora barely managed to say, "What in the world?"

Slider hadn't led him to any type of trap. Rather, the teen had shown the Keyblader to what seemed to be a humanoid penguin; it was wearing what appeared to the jersey of a hockey player, and a pair of hockey gloves on its hands. The hockey stick in its hand confirmed that it was a hockey player. Yet, Sora hadn't seen any skating rinks around town; he figured they were from another world like he was.

"So," Sora began. "You like hockey?"

The penguin nodded. Slider gestured between the two as he said, "Fluff, this is Sora. Sora, this is Fluff."

Fluff smiled, saying, "Nice to meet you, Sora."

His suspicion depleted, Sora beamed, "Same here!"

Fluff nodded back. Sora turned to face both of the two before questioning, "Have either of you seen a guy named Riku?"

The two looked at each other for a moment; Slider shook his head. They turned back as Fluff replied, "Nope, sorry. Is he that guy with the black coat?"

"No way," Sora retorted. "He's my best friend! I've been looking for Riku since we got here. That guy in black just happened to cross my path along the way. I don't know exactly who he is, but I have a feeling I know who he's in league with."

"And who might _that_ be?" Slider interrogated.

Sora answered, "A group called Organization XIII. I could've sworn I had finished them for good, but that guy seems to be one of their surviving members. I don't get it."

"So he is up to no good," Fluff commented. "But, what does he want to do with Inez and Jules?"

"Who?" Sora enquired. He hadn't heard about any abduction concerning the shadowy figure. Although, he did find it strange that Matt and Jackie had gone after him. The only real question was why. What was his motive? Was he trying to lure the two Keyblade wielders into a trap in order to provoke them to flunk their examination? Something about that idea didn't seem to fit.

In answer to Sora, Slider explained about how Fluff and him were friends of a heroic team called the Cybersquad, which was charged with protecting a universe called _Cyberspace_. He elaborated on the part where their enemy, a cyborg named Hacker, had allied himself with a few other enemies of the Cybersquad, and how the team had set off to put a stop to their threatening scheme. Unfortunately, a witch named Wicked had magically caused the heroes to be swept away into another dimension so they couldn't interfere with any of Hacker's plans to take over _Cyberspace_. Thus, the two had found themselves separated from their friends in a strange town neither of them recognized. According to a strange figure in a black coat, Slider and Fluff had learned that two of their friends were being held captive. They had attempted to follow him, only to find nothing but the monsters. Slider had agreed to go out searching further while Fluff stayed in one of the tents within the carnival they had stumbled upon. While searching, the skateboarder had come across Sora.

After receiving answers to the majority of his questions, Sora was amazed and slightly uncomfortable. "Wow," he reflected. "That's quite an adventure you've been through… "

"…And it's not over yet." Fluff summarized.

Sora was taken aback. "Huh?!"

Slider quickly replied, "We still have to stop Hacker."

Sora began to think about what to say to this. If this 'Hacker' was aligned with the guy in black, then he would have to help anyway he could. The Keyblade wielder summarized, "In that case, is there something I can do to help?"

Slider and Fluff gave equally surprised looks upon their faces. The latter exclaimed, "You would help us?"

Sora nodded with a friendly smile growing upon his face. "Of course!" he happily recited, "When the going gets tough, the tough call for help."

Both Slider and Fluff paused in thought. Sora noticed they were looking straight at each other. Finally, after what felt like twenty hours (in reality, it was only twenty seconds), the two turned their attention back to the Keyblader. Fluff was the first one to speak. "Sure," the hockey-playing penguin approved. "We can use whatever help we can get."

Slider nodded as he added, "You need to find your friend, too. Together, we should be able to find them all."

"It's settled! Let's go look." Sora agreed. The trio stepped through the tent's canvas into the plaza. As their eyes darted about the surrounding remains of the carnival, Sora thought he sensed an unusually intense amount of sinister energy coming from the direction of a narrow street that led away from the square and into a shadow-filled vicinity of the town. He stared at it, realizing that he might be feeling the power of Darkness looming further down the road. He muttered to himself, "That guy in the black coat… what's he after?"

Despite this awkward feeling from within, Sora called out to the others, "This way."

Slider and Fluff both stopped what they were doing and looking at Sora, then the street leading into the distant shadows. The former said, "I understand the environment beyond there, but would he really go that way?"

Sora nodded. Seeing this, Fluff added, "Are you sure? We don't have time to make any mistakes."

Once again, Sora nodded. This time, he explained his decision, "I can feel the power of Darkness coming from down that road. The man in black must be down there."

Although a little nervous about heading down a weird street to chase someone suspicious, both Slider and Fluff gave a nod in agreement. The latter said, "Lead the way, Sora."

And with a yell of "Come on!", Sora took off sprinting down the street. Slider and Fluff followed quickly behind the Keyblade wielder as he led the two into the shadows. If his feeling proved to be accurate, then Sora knew they were on the trail to their target. That guy in the black coat would definitely have some explaining to do when they caught him; Sora would continue to interrogate, until the guy relinquished the information he desired.

* * *

Riku gradually became conscious as his vision transitioned from a blurred tangle of splattered paint on a warped canvas into an unmistakable picture of a group consisting of two pre-teenagers and a purple robotic-like bird; they were gazing straight down at him with expressions of alarm, concern, and mystification. Realizing he was currently lying on his back, Riku flipped forwards onto his feet. He relaxed when the others gave deep sighs of relief. With a smirked grin, the Keyblade wielder rapidly remembered the names of the others; he had encountered them in what had happened to be the sleeping world of **Traverse Town**. Digit was the bird (or cyboid) Riku had first met when arriving in a fountain square. Matt and Jackie were the two pre-teens Riku had rescued from an enormous, winged, dinosaur-like creature. Digit had claimed they were some of his friends that had gotten trapped in the town with him; their whole group was apparently from another universe known as _Cyberspace_. Then again, someone else had just appeared before his eyes, moments before Riku had inexplicable grown drowsy and plunged into a deep, serene sleep.

Confused, Riku managed to say, "What happened?"

Matt responded, "Man, you were out for the count! We didn't think you'd ever wake up."

"Yeah," Jackie added. "You just fell asleep."

Riku pondered over this for a few minutes before asking, "But… why did I fall asleep?"

"Tell that to the Angel of Dreams," Digit affirmed.

"The _what_?!" Riku blurted, feeling very confounded. His question was answered faster than he thought would be. His eyes had frozen in place when a strange girl stepped into view. Riku was speechless; the girl was the same person he had just spotted on the rooftop moments before mysteriously passing out. Her violet hair flowed gracefully down to just below her shoulders. A violet dress covered her body while a pair of violet sandal-like shoes were slipped on her feet. Around her neck was a necklace that bore a symbol, which Riku still assumed was a cross between the Heartless emblem and Organization XIII logo. This time, he also took note that a pair of silver bands were situated upon her wrists. In addition, the Keyblade wielder could sense a powerful Light radiating out from the figure. To top it off, her whole being was illuminating with a violet glow.

"I'm dreaming, right?" Riku blurted out loud, still certain that the girl was a figment of his imagination.

With a clear voice, the girl said, "If you're dreaming what you see in a dream, who's the dreamer?"

Riku was bewildered; the girl spoke like she was real. How could that be? For that matter, she also spoke in mysterious riddles; Riku had no clue what they meant. He paused for a moment before asking, "If you're real, what's your name?"

The girl was confused. "I'm Violet, the Angel of Dreams. Don't you remember me, Riku?"

Riku was astounded the second she called him by name; Digit, Matt, and Jackie were confused well beyond belief. The Keyblader said, "You know my name?! Have we met?"

Violet rolled her eyes in disbelief. "Did you forget the time you proposed a kiss to Kairi so Sora would be jealous?"

"_What_?!" Riku exclaimed in embarrassment. Noticing that Digit was secretly snickering to himself, Riku snarled, "That wasn't funny!"

Digit stopped instantly, even though Matt was smiling and Jackie was giggling aloud. Riku glared at the two with a snap of, "Cut it out!"

Startled, the two pre-teens stopped. Disturbed at the actions of the others around her, Violet spoke up, "Riku, I only revealed that confidential wish of yours to _prove_ how I knew you."

As he tried to hide his blushing cheeks, Riku exclaimed, "Well, I hope this is a dream, or I'm living in a _nightmare_!"

Violet was starting to get irritated. "Riku, open your eyes! There's no line between reality and fantasy in here! This is really happening _and_ not happening!"

Riku's hands flew from his face to his sides. After hearing what he had just been told, the Keyblade wielder suddenly realized why everything around him seemed extremely far-fetched. The entire world truly _was_ sleeping between two other universes with residents primarily from what sounded like the universe beyond. Yet, because the world was sleeping, everything he was witnessing was most-likely not real, but it was still happening nonetheless. The idea that something could be happening, but also not happening at the same time was beyond what he was able to understand with such limited knowledge. He made up his mind to directly request Violet to explain what was going on; she might have seen Sora, too. With a deep breath, Riku finally said, "Alright! Violet, what's going on? Where's Sora?"

Having been caught off guard, Violet froze for a few moments before taking a deep breath and closing her eyes. As her eyelids slowly opened, the angel spoke. "I don't know anyone named 'Sora'," she admitted with a hint of anxiety. "As for what is going on, I haven't the slightest clue why that guy in the black coat has appeared. Like the rest of you, I've been trying to resist him since he unleashed newer Nightmares upon the world."

"Wait," Riku interrupted. "That guy is making bad dreams?"

"What good will _that_ do?" Digit presumed aloud.

"Anything but good, Didge." Matt deducted.

"What do you think, Jackie?" Digit inquired.

"Awe! You're so cute!" Hearing this response to Digit's question, everyone looked down to see the pre-teen gently petting one of the rainbow-colored creatures who had stayed behind. The one she was touching was a cat with red ears, an orange head and neck, yellow back, green legs, blue paws, indigo tail, and violet eyes. The creature was continuously purring as Jackie rubbed her hands along its back. Seeing this, Digit harshly declared, "I told you, those guys are nothing but… "

"Spirits." Violet intervened, shocking Digit. The cyboid exclaimed, "_What_?!"

"What are 'Spirits?'" Matt quizzed. As Violet clarified, Riku was beginning to observe the creatures. All of a sudden, he had a recollection of something Master Yen Sid had informed him about.

* * *

_Continuing further, Master Yen Sid elaborated, "Keep in mind, the Sleeping Worlds are isolated — cut off from all outside channels. These worlds are said to have their own manner of Darkness. They are called Dream Eaters, with two kinds; Nightmares, which devour happy dreams and produce nightmares, and Spirits, which consume the nightmares and produce dreams. Since the Nightmares are much like the Heartless, they will be drawn to the Light. Although the Spirits are less common than the Nightmares, they have a tendency to flock together and pursue any Nightmare they encounter. These Dream Eaters will be your guides — just as the Heartless once guided you — to the keyhole you seek at the heart of each world."_

* * *

Riku's flashback finished just in time to hear Violet say, "For the record, I'm the one who created the Spirits."

"Wait," Riku broke in. This caused him to grab everyone else's attention. "You 'created' them?"

Violet nodded in compliance. "Yes, I created the Spirits to dispel the ever-growing population of Nightmares."

Riku nodded in understanding. Out of the blue, he remembered the two questions he still didn't have an answer to. He made up his mind to ask the first one. "Violet," he began. "How did you know my secret wish?"

Violet explained, "Your heart knows. I'm the one who defends the dreams of all living things. Wishes are also dreams. In that case, your wish came to life before my eyes. That's how I knew about it; I venture through the dreams of everyone."

Riku nodded, finally understanding what she had meant. Next, he asked, "So, where do you think that mystery guy in the black coat could be?"

Before the angel could respond, Matt blurted, "After he sent that creature at us, he simply disappeared."

Jackie elaborated, "It's like he never existed. Almost like a hallucination."

"How can someone who is real be a hallucination?" Digit questioned. The cyber bird's query only got looks of confusion in return.

"If this is a Sleeping World," Riku pondered aloud. He failed to notice everyone looking back at him. The Keyblader continued to think through everything he could make sense of. Finally, he concluded, "That guy in black must be an illusion."

"_What_?!" Matt, Jackie, and Digit exclaimed upon hearing the statement.

Seeing this, Riku explained, "Since this town is asleep, everything that is happening within has to be the dreams it's having. I didn't quite understand how things could happen and not happen at the same time, but that must be how a dream works. Everything you see in a dream isn't real, even though it feels like you're really there. It probably works the same for a world."

Turning to Violet, Riku continued, "It's difficult to comprehend, but I'm sure that's what you meant. Being an Angel of Dreams, you're always experiencing someone's dreams."

With a sigh, Riku finished, "Wish my life could've been a dream. I'll just have to keep on pushing that Darkness away."

The Keyblade wielder closed his eyes as he tried to visualize what his life would have been like had he never accepted the Darkness in the first place. If the Light had continually been with him all along, everything would feel so much brighter than it did. On top of that, he could've been with Sora and Kairi for years and years without worrying about having to walk the Road to Dawn. As Riku looked up again, he slowly opened his eyes and looked at the group watching him. He looked directly at Violet before saying, "You're lucky."

Violet hesitated upon hearing this statement. She softly sighed, "I would say _you_ are the lucky one, Riku."

Riku nearly leapt out of surprise. Even though Matt, Jackie, and Digit had just been spectating the discussion, the response also made them speechless.

"What do you mean?" Riku exclaimed. This was nowhere close to what he had been expecting.

Violet gave a deep sigh before turning to face everyone. "It's true that I get to explore dreams. I see the dreams, interact with whatever happens, and hope for a happy closure."

"I see… " Riku muttered out loud. Under no circumstances was it simple for him to keep all his thoughts solely in his mind and not at least utter them to anyone. Noticing this, Digit spoke up, "See what?"

Slightly uncomfortable about the group overhearing, Riku swiftly became aware of what was going on and snapped back into focus. He rushed, "Uh… nothing. Everything's fine."

As Riku gave a small smirked grin upon his face, the Keyblader suddenly felt what appeared to be the power of Darkness. He spun his head towards a nearby street leading beyond the three-storied hotel and looming into the distance down a poorly-lit path. Riku stared at it for a minute before declaring, "That way… "

Matt, Jackie, Digit, and Violet turned towards him. The former asked, "What's up, Riku?"

Riku's eyes kept staring down the road. "I can feel a powerful Darkness down there."

"Could it be that guy?" Jackie pondered.

"I hope not," Digit whimpered. "He sounds really scary!"

Riku just said, "I'm not sure, but it does feel very dark. It almost feels like… like **_Ansem_ **might be trying to trick me, again."

"Who's 'Ansem'?" Jackie questioned aloud.

Riku didn't respond. He closed his eyes and tried to focus his complete attention towards the street ahead. Ever since he had encountered a certain member of the Organization named Vexen, he had assimilated an ability to track a scent of Darkness back to its origin in a similar manner to how a bloodhound trails a fox. Concentrating with the strength of his heart, Riku was at last able to pinpoint the source point of the power-hungry Darkness. The Keyblader opened his eyes and called out to the others, "I've got it. Follow me!"

Riku took off scurrying while a confused group of Matt, Jackie, Digit, and Violet quickly jogged behind. He was sure that the man in black was down the road he was proceeding.

* * *

**A/N: ... Not sure what should, might, must, needs to be said...**

**... I suppose I'll just do two things before signing off.**

**ONE: This will be the last chapter I post for a [little] while. My Summer Vacation has just begun, but I still need to complete the final revisions on Chapter 4 (almost done) and finish writing Chapter 5 (over half-way written).**

**TWO: The usual; PLEASE DON'T LEAVE WITHOUT REVIEWING! THE FATE OF THIS STORY DEPENDS ON IT!**

**This is SoraLego278 saying, "See Ya Later, Keybladers!"**


	4. Ch4 - The Reality of Illusion

**DISCLAIMER: I OWN NOTHING EXCEPT MY ORIGINAL CHARACTERS!**

**A/N: As the month of April is slowly coming to a close, this story is just coming to Light.**

**Before you read, there is one major thing I wanted to point out. Since I posted Chapter 3, there has been a steady DECLINE in the number of views. I certain hope this is not a result of the deletion of my other story, but it might be.**

**So, I'll just simply turn you loose - in a moment!  
First, I wanted to specify on three major plot points from what has been shown in this story so far.**

**ONE - _World Unto Dreams _DOES follow a similar pattern to _Dream, Drop__ Distance_. I was already planning it out when _KH 3D_ was first announced.**

**TWO - The characters appearing in Traverse Town are from the PBS-KIDS-GO TV Series, _CYBERCHASE_, which is meant to be a CROSSOVER.**

**THREE - The Angel of Dreams, Violet, is one of MY ORIGINAL CHARACTERS. She'll be playing a major role in the story to come.**

**With that all said and done, ENJOY YOUR TIME READING!**

* * *

**CHAPTER 4  
The Reality of Illusion**

After heading straight down the road that led away from the carnival, Sora continued to guide both Slider and Fluff down a lengthy street. To the two latters' astonishment, the side-street was merely shrouded by a wealth of shadows produced by the lighting illuminating from a building about a mile away. In what turned out to be less than five minutes, Sora abruptly halted in his footsteps. Slider was next in line with his skateboard in hand, while Fluff was panting a few yards behind them both. Upon catching his breath, Fluff asked, "What is it, Sora?"

The penguin got his reply when he saw Sora was sweeping his eyes across another square before them. On the other side of the plaza stood a large, seven-storied stone building with an entrance that resembled a resort hotel. A lush, green garden containing a gazebo surrounded by a small pond was situated to the left of the main building. Sora pointed at the wall just before calling, "Look!"

Slider and Fluff followed his finger and instantly were greatly surprised. As fate would have it, someone was carefully sliding their way down the side of the outer wall. Without warning, they lost their grip and started to plunge towards the ground. Seeing this, Sora exclaimed, "Oh no!"

Before the other two had a chance to react, Sora had already sprinted over to the side of the building, reached out his arms, and caught the victim. Sora set them down on the ground, when he noticed that the climber was a girl wearing a long-sleeved pink shirt with a yellow star on the front, teal shorts, a purple vest, and dark blue boots. On her face was a pair of square-shaped glasses. She gratefully smiled at him, saying, "Thank you! I'm Inez."

Sora nodded both in acknowledgment and realization. He had a feeling that Inez was acquainted with Matt and Jackie. Yet, all he said was, "Sure! No problem."

The Keyblade wielder was already showing a grin upon his face when Slider and Fluff approached them. The latter of the two said, "Inez! I'm so glad you're okay."

"Yeah," Slider agreed. "We looked for you everywhere."

Inez saw them and said, "Fluff? Slider! I thought you both had disappeared with everyone else."

"Don't worry," Fluff encouraged. "I'm sure they're here somewhere."

Inez nodded. "Have any of you seen Digit, Matt, or Jackie?"

While Slider and Fluff shook their heads, a spark lit up in Sora's head. Before he could stop himself, the Keyblader blurted, "I did!"

Everyone else looked at him in alarm. Inez asked, "Where?"

Sora paused before saying, "I'm not quite sure… "

All at once, a voice shouted, "_Sora_!"

They group briskly whirled their attention toward a group of individuals making their way into the square from another street. Sora was feeling either relieved or amazed when it occurred to him that Riku was among the group. As they grew closer, he saw Matt and Jackie as well. The only ones he failed to recognize were a purplish-colored bird-shaped robot and a girl, who seemed to be radiating a powerful Light. The entire procession halted upon reaching Sora and the others.

Riku marched up to Sora and exclaimed, "Sora! Are you okay? Did anything happen to you?!"

"Whoa, slow down," Sora said, cutting his friend off. "One question at a time! Yes, I'm okay! Nothing happened to me, except I met these guys." He gestured toward Slider and Fluff; the two were busy speaking with Inez.

Riku gave a smile and shook his head. He knew it was like Sora to make friends as quick as lightning. He looked in the direction of Inez. "Who are they?"

"Who's _that_?" Sora inquired, gesturing towards the robot-bird Riku was with. He did the same for the strange girl who had followed the Keyblader, too.

Noticing this, Matt spoke up, "I think we need to introduce each other."

* * *

A few minutes later, the introductions were finished. Now knowing who the others were, Riku could tell that Inez was another member of the Cybersquad team he had just heard Sora and the others discuss about. In fact, Digit, Matt, Jackie, and Inez were the core of the team, while the others were a number of their comrades they had allied with on multiple occasions. For that matter, Slider and Fluff were each from different locations throughout _Cyberspace_. Yet, it sounded like one of their colleagues was currently unaccounted for.

While Riku was trying to make sense of what the duo was being told, Sora was also absorbing every tidbit of information he could fathom. He had just learned that the robotic bird was a "cyboid" named Digit. He was friends with not just Matt, Jackie, and Inez, but with Slider and Fluff as well. In addition, it appeared that one of their acquaintances was still absent. Furthermore, he had also gotten to know the girl, whose name turned out to be Violet — the Angel of Dreams. After discovering this, the Keyblade wielder understood why she was radiating the power of Light. He also could make out the violet glow she was giving.

After comprehending as much of the information as possible, Sora finally said, "I think I finally get it."

Everyone was turning to him when Riku said, "I do, too."

Sora nodded in agreement before summarizing, "It looks like everyone, except Violet, is from another world beyond this one. They got trapped in here because of someone named Hacker. They were all scattered when they got here and me and Riku helped them out."

"Right," Riku agreed. "Even though it feels like someone is still missing… "

Sora looked at him in alarm. "I had the same feeling!"

He looked at the others. "Who's missing?!"

"Jules," Slider answered. "He should've been with Nezzie."

At the mention of this, Inez cracked a smirked grin. It was short lived, however. Matt quickly exclaimed, "_Nezzie_?!"

"Don't call me _Nezzie_," Inez struck back. "Unless you want me to say '_Matthew_.'"

"Hey," Matt scowled in return. "That was uncalled for!"

"Would you two please give it a rest," Digit complained.

Jackie added, "Guys, we still need to find Jules."

Everyone nodded as both Matt and Inez's anger soothed. Having just witnessed this unusual event, Sora shook his head; this felt just like how Donald would react around Goofy. Finally, he heard Fluff ask, "Inez, where's Jules?"

Inez began to ponder, standing on her head in the meantime. After a couple of minutes had passed, she flipped onto her feet. With a deep breath, she responded, "I just remembered — Jules was on the roof with me. When I decided we should climb down, he was hesitant about following me."

"What roof?" Matt questioned. His question received a rapid reply when Inez pointed up to the top of the resort building.

Seeing this, Digit began to feel uneasy. He said, "He's all the way up — _there_?"

Suddenly, a voice shouted from above, "Hello! Can anyone hear me?"

Jackie exclaimed, "It's Jules!"

"Man! How'd he get up there?" Matt wondered aloud.

Riku ran up to the wall and jumped onto it. He clambered up about halfway when Sora shouted, "Riku!"

Riku spun his attention away from the wall for a split second, only to spot a gigantic creature swooping right at him. He gasped and ducked his head as the monster flew directly past him — missing only by a matter of inches. Sadly, it was still enough to make him lose his grip. Riku began to plunge down, down towards the square. When he was certain he was about to hit the ground, he felt his fall break. When he looked up, Riku was unable to believe his eyes. Violet had mysteriously sprouted what seemed to be clear, angel wings and flown up to snatch him from falling to an apparent doom. He smiled as she lowered him to the ground. When he was once again standing upon a solid surface, the Keyblader turned to Violet and said, "Thanks."

Violet nodded. "That was _too _close!"

Sora and the others quickly ran up; Sora was sprinting. Upon reaching his friend, Sora exclaimed, "Are you alright, Riku?!"

Riku nodded. "I'm fine, Sora." He looked up at the building. "Where'd that creature come from?"

Everyone shrugged in confusion. Riku could tell they had no clue what was going on. He watched as Sora turned to Violet and said, "Do you think you could get their friend down?"

Violet nodded, even though she said, "I could try."

"Hold it," Digit announced as he marched over. "_I_ can fly! I just… don't like heights."

Riku and Violet nodded when Digit opened the compartment on his chest and reached in. "But I know someone else who can help," Digit explained before pulling out a smaller cyboid who looked like a miniature form of himself, except the hat, tail feathers, and bowtie were not screwed on properly. Sora took a close look at the tinier robotic bird. "Meet Widget," Digit introduced. "He's the pal who's closest to my heart."

"Can he fly?" Riku questioned.

To everyone's surprise, Widget turned to Digit and spoke in an even more quack-y voice, "Do you want to tell them, or… "

"Don't tell me you still haven't taught him how to fly!" Matt jumped in with a hint of surprise.

A slight pinkish color formed upon Digit's beak as he replied, "Well… maybe I… uh… "

"We don't have time for this," Slider broke in. "We need to rescue Jules — _now_!"

Sora thought for a complete minute before saying, "Violet, take Widget with you. I'll follow by climbing up."

Everyone looked at him as though he had just told them something tragic. Riku said, "You want to climb there?"

"Of course!" Sora affirmed.

"You can't make it," Violet interrupted. "That creature might still be around. It's too dangerous for climbing."

Despite these protests, Sora ran up to the building, jumped, and clambered onto the outer wall. He climbed up as quickly as he could. In the meantime, Violet followed along via her wings. Widget was clinging onto her shoulder as the pair reached the roof moments after Sora had made it. The Keyblader waited while Violet and Widget rapidly caught up. When the two landed, the Keyblader smirked, "And you were concerned about a monster… "

Feeling a lack of amusement, Violet simply crossed her arms. Widget hopped off her shoulder and landed onto the roof. He glanced around what turned out to be a large, thick-windowed rooftop with a stoned outline surrounding it in the shape of a framework. He started to walk across the glass when a voice called out, "Who's there?"

Violet and Sora turned their eyes to focus on the source of the voice — a tall, thin young man with brown hair. He was wearing a forest-green park ranger uniform with a nametag that read **JULES**, while his feet were covered in brown hiking boots. On his face was a pair of round eyeglasses with blue lenses. He scampered over to the trio before pausing to catch his breath. With a look of concern he asked, "Who are you?"

Sora answered, "I'm Sora. This is Violet and Widget."

Upon hearing the last name, the young man looked down at Widget. The latter nodded, allowing the former to let out a relieved sigh. The relief could still be seen in his eyes as he said, "Thank goodness! My name is Jules. I was wondering if Inez would find help."

Sora nodded before asking, "Why didn't you follow her?"

Jules hesitantly said, "I don't like heights. I used to be scared of the dark too, but Matt, Jackie, Inez, and Digit helped me overcome that."

Violet nodded before inquiring, "If you're terrified of heights, how'd you even get up here?"

Almost like he had rehearsed, Jules quickly explained, "That guy in the black coat kidnapped me and Inez. We had ended up in a carnival after getting separated from everyone else. He just appeared and created a giant monster that took us here before we could run away."

Baffled, Sora looked at Jules like the latter had witnessed a ghost story. He already knew that ghost stories could be true; he had seen it during his last journey in _**Port Royal**_. The story about a curse upon Aztec gold didn't make sense to him until he met the pirate named [Captain] Jack Sparrow. If Pete hadn't been assisting Barbossa, the story would have ended much sooner. The idea of a ghost story being true still bothered the Keyblade wielder when Jules added, "He might still be nearby."

Sora was trying to understand how the guy in black could be a figment, yet real. Riku had assumed the guy was a fake, but everyone around town seemed to believe otherwise. Out of the blue, Violet hollered, "Look, over there!"

She pointed to the center of the rooftop where a section of the stoned frame was situated. Sora and Widget were stunned silent. Jules blurted, "It's him!"

Sora was speechless. Standing less than fifty feet away was the figure dressed in the black-hooded coat, black gloves, and black shoes. He summoned his Keyblade with a yell of, "He's real!"

He glared at the figure as it stepped closer to the group. All at once, the figure charged straight for them. Sora placed his weapon in desperation to block when the figure stopped a few feet short of them. He exclaimed, "Huh?! Just who _are_ you?!"

Although it would seem highly ironic, the figure reached for his hood and pulled it down to reveal a sight that made Sora feel very perplexed. The figure was a young man with mildly tanned skin, golden eyes, and silver hair which fell slightly past his shoulders. Having never seen anyone like this guy before, Sora once again questioned, "Who are you?"

Rather than answer, the man raised his arms into the air. In the blink of an eye, an enormous creature swooped over to a point just above him. It resembled a flying dinosaur with a red head and beak, yellow wings, and orange body and tail. The man gave a smirked smile before a plume of dark power formed. He stepped into the corridor before disappearing from sight. Sora was going to run over when the portal vanished. Alarmed and awestruck, the Keyblade wielder turned his attention back to the creature. He yelled, "Violet, take Widget and Jules back to the others! I'll take care of this guy!"

Violet nodded and grabbed Widget and Jules before flapping her way down below. Sora continued to glare at the creature the whole time. He charged at it, only to swipe his Keyblade at the right wing. The creature spun around and was about to charge at him when the Keyblader slashed his way through the monster's tail. Stunned, the creature took a few moments to get back into focus. Fortunately, that was all the time Sora needed. He jumped and swiftly struck his weapon into the head of the monster. Severely injured by the attack, the creature began to fall with Sora still upon it. As the plaza below came into view, he called out, "Look out below!"

* * *

The second he heard a shout from above, Riku knew something terrible was about to happen. After Sora had gone with Violet and Widget to rescue Jules, he began to wonder what was about to happen. While Inez and Jackie were chatting with Slider, and Fluff and Digit were discussing whatever, Riku could do nothing but worry when Violet came back down with Jules and Widget. The first thing Riku had asked was, "Where's Sora?"

Violet had told him the man in black had been up there and left a large creature to attack them. Riku was shocked and discouraged. Although he was safe, Riku hated it when Sora left him out of any adventures they were on together.

When he thought he had heard Sora's voice, Riku looked up to spot Sora aboard the same gigantic dinosaur-like enemy he had seen before. Not mention, it was also the one that had almost hit him on the side of the resort's building. Now, it was heading straight for him. Digit yelled, "Watch out!"

Everyone rushed out of harm's way moments before the creature crash-landed into the plaza and disappeared from sight with a flurry of bubbles floating everywhere. Sora had landed safely onto the square, allowing Riku to let out a breath he never had realized he was holding. Sora's Keyblade disappeared as everyone else walked over to him. The former flexed his right arm, which resulted in Riku just shaking his head. Violet walked up and said, "At least nothing happened to anyone."

Sora nodded. "Yeah," he added. "Everyone's safe."

"For now," Jules spoke up. "We still need to stop Hacker."

Riku turned to the others and asked, "Who is he, anyway?"

"The meanest cyborg you'd ever meet," Digit explained. "He loves to cause chaos _galore_! Taking over _Cyberspace_ is his ultimate goal."

Matt added, "That's why we — the Cybersquad — always have to stop him. Usually his plans fall apart from the beginning."

"Still, our job is to prevent disaster," Slider agreed. "It's the only choice we have."

"If Hacker wins, there'd be no hope left," Inez affirmed. "Cyberspace would be _doomed_!"

Jackie elaborated, "Until Mother B.'s fixed, we'll do what we have to."

"Right," Fluff added. "Motherboard's counting on us."

Sora and Riku both thought for a moment about all this. Sora finished, "In that case, me and Riku will help anyway we can."

"We will?" Riku asked in alarm. He wasn't expecting Sora to jump in so rapidly.

Sora nodded at him. "Yeah! They _need_ our help."

Riku thought for a moment, placing his hand upon his chin. When that moment ended, he stopped and said, "Okay, I'll help."

"That's the spirit!" Sora cheered.

Riku smiled at Sora's cheerfulness. To Sora's point of view, it looked like Riku's grin was illuminating a light. All of a sudden, Digit exclaimed, "Whoa! What is _that_?!"

"It's some kind of keyhole!" Matt acknowledged.

Hearing these reactions, both Sora and Riku turned their attention towards the source of the Light. A glowing keyhole-shape was hovering directly over the resort's entranceway. Violet noticed it and said, "It's a 'Sleeping Keyhole!'"

Now knowing what was before them, Sora and Riku summoned their Keyblades. They pointed the tips of the blades at the keyhole. They turned back to see Violet, Matt, Jackie, Inez, Digit, Widget, Slider, Jules, and Fluff all looking at them. With a smile, Sora said, "We have to say goodbye for a while."

Riku added, "We'll be back."

Violet stepped forwards and declared, "You may need my guidance to complete your journey. It's not a very friendly place out in the Realm of Sleep. I'm going with you. Don't try to talk me out of it; I _always_ end up winning."

Sora and Riku looked at one another before nodding. They looked back at the angel as Sora said, "Yeah! You can come."

"We could use all the help we can get," Riku affirmed.

"Then it's settled!" Violet agreed, stepping over to the pair.

Sora and Riku pointed the tips of their Keyblades at the keyhole. Two beams of Light shone out towards it. They fused one yard from the keyhole and struck it directly in the center. As a tunnel of brilliant Light formed, the trio waved to their friends. The entire Cybersquad waved back as Sora, Riku, and Violet all leaped into the tunnel. The two formers were glad, knowing that they had freed **Traverse Town** of its everlasting slumber.

Nobody saw the vulture gliding through the sky overhead…

* * *

As Sora and Riku watched Master Yen Sid with anticipation to find out what their examination would be, the latter began, "If we are ever to strike down Master Xehanort, we'll need the assistance of the ones King Mickey spoke of in his letter. To that end, seven Sleeping Keyholes must be found and unlocked; a great power will need to be retrieved."

Sora and Riku's eyes grew larger with anxiety as Yen Sid pressed on, "Therefore we must decide upon which world you will begin your journey. I will send you both back to the time when the _**Destiny Islands**_ was lost to the Darkness, and thus fell into sleep. From there, let the Dreams guide you to the Sleeping Keyholes at the heart of each of the Sleeping Worlds."

Yen Sid paused before finishing, "If you both can complete all this and make it back here, I will declare you both the title of a **_true KEYBLADE MASTER_**."

* * *

**A/N: ...AND THUS DID THE TRUE STORY BEGIN!**

**I know what you're probably thinking. Sorry, but I just HAD to say it!**

**For the record, the completion of Traverse Town [(shown here)] means that the first of the Disney-based worlds is just around the corner! Seeing as I have fallen [slightly] behind schedule (don't know why), Chapter 5 may have a slight delay.**

**Hey! That rhymes! (May & Delay)**

**Starting from this point, I'll be giving a HINT at the end of each world's storyline, which will be referring to the next world ahead!  
Here's the first one.**

**HINT: "WHAT FAIRY-TALE INVOLVES 'A TOWER FULL OF HAIR'"?  
****IF you believe you know what the next world is, please post your answers in the REVIEWS section for this particular Chapter.**

**This is not just meant for the newcomers, PLEASE DON'T LEAVE WITHOUT REVIEWING! THE FATE OF THIS STORY DEPENDS ON IT!**

**This is SoraLego278 saying, "See Ya Later, Keybladers!"**


	5. Ch5 - Dreaming In Captivity

**DISCLAIMER: I OWN NOTHING EXCEPT MY ORIGINAL CHARACTERS!**

**A/N: ...And here it is at last - CHAPTER 5! YAHOO!**

**Just so you know, this chapter does introduce the first Disney-based world. Still, I won't reveal which movie it is... until the END of this Chapter!**

**IF you truly wish to know what [it] is, YOU'LL just have to READ ON...!**

* * *

**CHAPTER 5  
Dreaming In Captivity**

After soaring through an extensive tunnel jam-packed with warm, soothing Light, Riku started to sense the tranquility he had been yearning for since departing from his island home to perceive the wonders of the vastness comprising the outlying parameters of the infinite cosmos. Had he never wished to venture into the unknown, he wouldn't have succumbed to the Darkness, battled the Nobody of his best friend, struggled with the shadow of his _worst _enemy clinging to his heart, and have had to accomplish a dangerous quest to awaken a number of 'lost' worlds inside a separate realm full of dreams. Although these regrets were still replaying throughout his memories, Riku had now resolved to do whatever was essential for him to attain the exceptional entitlement of _Keyblade Master_. From then on, he was intending to continue doing what was right.

At long last, the tunnel of Light came to an end. Riku found himself flying into a lush, green meadow at the heart of a hidden valley. As he quickly rolled to a dead halt in the soft, healthy grass, Riku looked upwards to see the early afternoon sun shining down. As a smile slowly crept onto his face, Riku closed his eyes.

"_**In your hand, take this blade."**_

"_**So long as you have the makings, then through this simple act of taking, it's wielder you shall one day be made… "**_

" …_**And you will find **_**me**_**, friend."**_

As he slowly opened his eyes, the brilliant sunlight was still shining down. He raised his head for a brief second before letting out a deep yawn. When he laid his head back onto the grass, Riku noticed someone looking at him from above. He swiftly sat up before spinning around, quickly realizing he had startled Sora. The latter giggled while Riku smirked, "Give me a break, Sora!"

Sora shook his head in disbelief. "I thought _I_ was supposed to be the lazy bum," he stated with merriment. "And here you are snoozing in the sun."

Riku barely smiled without showing a hint of humility; his behavior was transforming into Sora's. "Do you remember who did _all_ the work on the raft?"

"Yeah!" Sora acknowledged. The two were beginning to laugh together when Violet stepped over. She rolled her eyes at this unprecedented scene of awkward amusement.

"You two are so weird," the angel commented. "It's no surprise you're friends."

"Huh?" Sora and Riku both said in perplexity and wonder. They hadn't expected a statement anywhere close to what they'd just heard from Violet's lips.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Sora inquired, conjecturing whether or not the angel was concealing vital details from them.

"Is something wrong?" Riku asked, adding upon Sora's list of unanswered questions.

"No! Everything's fine," Violet rapidly responded. She turned towards the other side of the valley where a single waterfall flowed gracefully down the rocky cliff, forming a miniature stream. "I was just wondering about that tower."

Both Riku and Sora turned their attention to get a glimpse of what Violet was referring to. On the opposite side of the valley, near the waterfall, stood a steep-sided tower with a stone base that led up to a wooden structure with a peaked roof. Being the first one to speak, Riku asked, "What about it?"

"Doesn't it feel odd to see a tower in the middle of nowhere?" Violet replied with a voice full of puzzlement.

Sora thought for a moment with his eyes gazing upon the distant building. He muttered, "It does feel out of place."

"Exactly my _point_!" Violet firmly stated. "There shouldn't be a tower in the middle of a secluded valley, right?"

"Unless it's abandoned… " Riku proposed. To his surprise, no one seemed to have heard him, let alone understood his words.

"Let's check it out!" Sora emphasized, darting in the direction of the structure's base. Noticing this reaction in his friend, Riku was flabbergasted. He hardly heard Violet inquire, "Does he usually jump right in without getting his feet wet?"

Rather than respond with his voice, Riku simply shrugged before following the way Sora had just headed. Although unsure what Riku had meant, Violet proceeded along behind. Not one of them realized they had landed into the kingdom of **Corona**.

* * *

Being the first to reach the building, Sora raised his eyes up to the top. He began to wonder what secrets laid within the tower's walls. Was it empty? Was anyone home? Was the guy in the black coat waiting up there? There was only one way to find out the truth. He turned his attention toward Riku and Violet as the two caught up. Riku looked straight up at the tower's peak before saying, "Sora, you'd better go first."

Startled, Sora asked, "Why? You're the better climber."

"I fell off that building earlier, remember?"

"That's because you were knocked off by that monster!"

"No it's not!"

"Please_ stop talking_!" Violet sharply snapped, forcing both Sora and Riku to pause and focus their attention on her. The former was completely startled. Even though he hadn't known the angel as long as Riku had, he never expected her to yell at them like Donald would when losing his temper. After a few deep breaths, Violet continued, "It doesn't matter why Riku fell! What does matter is who'll climb the tower first. Get the picture?"

When Sora and Riku both nodded, the former noticed the angel giving a deep sigh of relief before stating, "Sora can climb a wall much faster than I can fly up it. He should climb up."

"Yeah," Riku added. "See if you can find some rope."

Although still feeling a little confused, Sora nodded and quickly jumped onto the stone base of the tower, rapidly climbing the steep walls. As he climbed higher and higher, Sora began to sense what he perceived was a breeze of wind. Moments later, he found himself on a wooden ledge just outside a window. He carefully watched his footing as he clambered through the open window and into the tower. Sora took a moment to sweep his eyes around the large, open room for a piece of rope. Due to the significant quantity of shadows, all he could see was a wooden staircase leading up to a landing before disappearing through a set of what he assumed were curtains. He softly said to himself, "There's got to be some rope around somewhere… "

As he cautiously took a few steps into the shadows, Sora thought he caught a glimpse of a large shadow in a nearby oval-shaped mirror. Wanting to investigate, he halted in his tracks and double-backed to the mirror. He stopped in front of the mirror when he noticed the silhouette was creeping up on him from behind. Before he could react, the Keyblade wielder heard a voice shout, "Sora! Behind you!"

With extremely swift-moving reflexes, Sora whirled around as he summoned his Keyblade to his hands. He barely managed to block the stranger moments before they could smash an item onto his head. He resisted them with all his might before shoving them backwards to the other side of the room. There was a sound of a _**THUD**_ quickly followed by an "Ouch!"

For a moment, Sora was too startled to move. The next, he was so shocked he was speechless. The last thing he would have anticipated was the voice of the stranger to sound like a girl. Sora turned his attention towards the window where he spotted Riku standing in the room. He also saw Violet peering through the window from the outside ledge. Alarmed, Sora exclaimed, "Riku? Violet! How'd you two get up here?!"

"I had to carry Riku," Violet replied. "You took too long."

"Yeah," Riku acknowledged. "You didn't throw any rope."

Even though he was still perplexed, Sora simply shrugged his shoulders at Riku's bizarre behavior. If Riku falling asleep in the sun wasn't ironic enough, now Sora's best friend was acting more and more like he did. At this rate, it would have been assumed that Riku was going to end up becoming just like Sora, while Sora was going to turn into Riku. Yet, neither one would have noticed it. As Riku walked up to him, Sora placed his hands behind his head with a deep smile shining on his lips. Riku simply gave his usual smirked grin at the sight of this. Violet clambered through the window into the room, only to discern the pair smiling at each other. With this image in her eyes, the angel paused to admire the duo. It was quite clear to her that they shared an unbreakable bond of friendship.

Out of the blue, a golden lasso flew from the shadows, snatched Sora and Riku right from their places, and pulled them tightly together. Startled, Violet ran over and attempted to break them free — with no success. The only thing the angel could do was declare, "It's too thick! I can't break through!"

Sora took a closer look at the lasso, only to realize it wasn't even rope. He heard Riku exclaimed, "This isn't rope! It looks like… _hair_!"

Realizing that Riku was right, Sora followed the trail of golden hair into the shadows. A voice suddenly snapped, "Struggling… struggling is pointless!"

The mere sound of this voice caused the group to shift their focus towards the shadows where the same silhouette Sora had shoved backwards was standing. The voice continued, "I know why you're here, and… I'm not afraid of you!"

Stunned and mystified, Violet called out, "Who are you?"

As the three watched, a figure stepped into the sunlight coming in through the open window. Sora's eyes grew wide in amazement. The figure was a girl with glaring green eyes and long, golden hair. She was wearing a long, pink dress. The only thing she was lacking was a pair of shoes. In her hands was a large, iron skillet, which he speculated had almost hit him earlier. She said to them, "Who are you and how did you find me?"

Violet opened her mouth to answer, but Riku beat her to it. He questioned, "What does that mean?"

The girl only glared all the more. "Who are you and how did you find me?"

Seeing that they were getting nowhere, Sora said, "I'm Sora. This is Riku, and she's Violet."

What happened next was the last thing Sora had expected. First, Riku frowned at him. Next, the girl raised her skillet directly above of the two. "Who else knows my location?"

Without warning, Riku snapped, "Nice going, Sora!"

Sora was taken so far aback, he snapped, "What?!"

"You shouldn't tell your name to just anyone!"

"Hey! I'm just trying to get out of here alive!"

"That's _not_ the way to get out alive!"

As the two continued to argue, the girl looked at Violet with a look of suspicion and bewilderment. The angel blurted, "I had nothing to do with this!"

The girl lowered her skillet with a sigh coming from her lips. She said, "Does anyone else know I'm here, or are you two going to argue all day?"

As if on cue, Sora and Riku looked at her in astonishing silence. Riku said, "If anyone else knows about this tower… "

"We just got here," Sora interrupted. "We'll go, ma'am."

"Rapunzel," The girl clarified. "That's my name!"

Sora smiled. "Nice to meet ya, Rapunzel!"

Either it was Sora's imagination, or Rapunzel actually was staring in the direction of a small, green chameleon on the floor. When the creature nodded, the Keyblader realized this was really happening. He watched with the others until Rapunzel proclaimed, "In that case, I'm prepared to offer you a deal."

She climbed up onto the top of a nearby fireplace and moved aside a large velvet curtain, revealing a painting of hundreds of lights hovering over a forest at night. With a loud voice, Rapunzel questioned, "Do you know what these are?"

While Sora was taking a closer look, Riku said, "They seem to resemble… lanterns."

As soon as the words registered within his brain, it occurred to Sora that Riku's claim must have been correct. For a moment, he had pictured the lights being stars. However, the possibility of them being lanterns felt more accurate than the idea of stars.

At first it appeared that Rapunzel was awestruck at this statement from Riku, even as she explained, "Well tomorrow night, these 'lanterns' will fill the sky. All of you will act as three of my guides, take me to see these 'lanterns', and bring me home safely. Then — and _only_ then — will I let you go."

Sora began to think about everything Rapunzel had said. Since she had both Riku and him trapped in her hair, the only one who could do something was Violet. Yet, even someone like the Angel of Dreams might not be capable of setting them free. For all Sora did know, escorting Rapunzel would be the only option if they were to locate this world's Sleeping Keyhole. All at once, Sora realized something Rapunzel had said. "You said we're three of your guides," he inquired. "Who else will be going?"

Without a single verbal word, Rapunzel pulled a nearby switch, allowing the top of the tower to open up like a sunroof. In the middle of the room stood a young man with short, dark-brown hair, and a scruffy goatee on the end of his chin. He was wearing a blue vest over a long, white shirt, tan pants, and brown shoes. "Hey," he smiled pleasantly. "The name's Flynn Rider. How's your day going?"

"It would be going a lot better if Sora and Riku weren't stuck in Rapunzel's hair." Violet answered after having been silent during the earlier conversation. All this did was make Sora speculate if she was secretly reluctant around strangers.

Flynn turned to Rapunzel. "It's alright," he reassured. "They're harmless."

With a nod of approval, Rapunzel hastily tugged on her hair, yanking Sora and Riku out and knocking them onto the floor. It was not a full minute before Violet hurried over to help the two get off the floor. "Sorry," Rapunzel said, very timidly. "Guess I'm still a bit… jumpy."

"I guess that makes sense," Sora softly muttered. He glanced over to the chameleon; the creature was watching his every move with a smile.

* * *

A few minutes later, Sora, Riku, and Violet were both outside looking up from the grass as Flynn Rider was climbing down the tower using two sticks with fins. The latter reached the ground as Violet called back up, "Are you coming?"

Feeling somewhat impatient, Riku added, "We don't have all day."

Rapunzel was still standing at the edge of the window, her iron skillet tucked under her arm, while her pet chameleon sat on her shoulder. She took a deep breath and threw her hair out the window. Everyone watched as she slid down with a squeal of delight and froze before landing on the ground. To Violet, it appeared she was nervous about stepping onto the grass. She gently set each foot down — one at a time. Seeing nothing terrible, she again squealed with delight. Sora and Violet looked one in confusion while Riku asked, "What's she so happy about?"

Violet shrugged, although she had a feeling that Sora might know. As far as the angel could tell, Sora seemed to comprehend any such circumstance. Yet, she had a feeling that Rapunzel had never been outside before. All at once, Rapunzel exasperatedly exclaimed, "I can't believe I did this!"

"Okay," Sora quelled. "Calm down before you lose your head."

"Mother would be so _furious_!" Rapunzel exclaimed.

"Too late… " Sora sighed. At this statement, Violet could only roll her eyes. Why was Sora assuming it was okay to be rude? The importance of politeness and having good manners was always something Violet had pictured everyone having. Yet, this teenager was showing the complete opposite of her expectations. How was that possible? As far as she understood, such a question was incapable of bearing a definite explanation. The angel came back to reality when Rapunzel said, "What she doesn't know won't kill her, right?"

A moment later, she exclaimed, "This would kill her!"

Therefore, it came as no surprise when Rapunzel collapsed to her knees and started sobbing into her hands. Sora, Riku, and Flynn briskly approached her; the latter said, "Y'know, I can't help but notice you seem a little at war with yourself."

Rapunzel looked up with tear-filled eyes. "What?"

"Sounds like your 'mother' was overprotective," Sora muttered. Violet stared at him for a couple of seconds before Riku saw this peculiar behavior pattern. His look of suspicion immediately stole Violet's attention, making the angel pretend nothing had occurred.

"Although, if you go back now, you won't have to worry about anything," Flynn called out. "It's simple! I get back my satchel, you get back a mother-daughter relationship based on mutual trust, and then we all part ways like unlikely friends."

"_No_," Rapunzel snapped, "I am seeing those lanterns!"

"Oh, come on," Flynn argued. "What's it going to take for me to get my satchel back?"

Rapunzel raised her skillet at his face. "I will use this!"

Without warning, a rustle came from a nearby patch of ivy. Rapunzel exclaimed, "Is it ruffians? Have they come for me?!"

Sora and Riku rapidly summoned their Keyblades. To everyone's surprise, all that emerged was a small, fluffy rabbit. Rapunzel gave a sigh of relief. "Sorry," she hesitated. "I guess I'm just a little bit… jumpy."

Sora nodded. Riku said, "It'd probably be best if we avoided ruffians. No telling what real ones would do."

Rapunzel nodded in agreement. Flynn suddenly exclaimed, "Are you guys hungry? I know a _great_ place for lunch!"

"Huh?" Sora and Violet said together.

"Where'd _that_ come from?" Riku added. The whole statement felt particularly abnormal. One minute, they had been discussing bandits. The next, the conversation of attaining food for lunch had spontaneously emerged from thin air. How?

"Where're we going?" Rapunzel bashfully asked. After her brief scene of fright from a harmless rabbit, she was showing signs of awkwardness. Even Sora was beginning to indicate signs of uneasiness. He crossed his arms like he was considering every last piece of information he had absorbed over the complete course of his sixteen-year-old lifetime.

"Don't worry," Flynn insisted with a comforting smile. "You'll know it when you smell it!"

Flynn gently locked his hand onto Rapunzel's arm and led her through a nearby ivy patch. Though they were all equally confused as Rapunzel, Sora, Riku, and Violet all shrugged. They quickly followed the two through the ivy and into a nearby forest of enormous tress, large bushes, thick moss, and cool shade.

As he stepped through the dense foliage, Riku started to ponder over the sincerity in Flynn's statement. For some odd reason, it felt as though he had reassured Rapunzel with a hint of sarcasm. Even as the young man led Rapunzel and the others to a dirt road, the Keyblade wielder was having his doubts. When they began to march along the road and into the distance, he glanced over to Sora with an expression he hoped his friend was able to understand. When Sora returned him with a smirked smile combined with his hands behind his head, Riku shook his head before grinning himself. If Sora was okay, surely everything was going to be all right.

After what felt like ten minutes, Flynn turned to the right with a declaration of, "There it is! The _Snuggly Duckling_!"

Riku halted in place when he caught sight of the wooded, duck-shaped building resting against a grassy slope just ahead. Beyond it was a thick gathering of trees. Even as Sora and Violet seemed confident they were not in any danger, Riku detected what he concluded was the scent of Darkness radiating from inside. He was beginning to wonder why Flynn had led them all straight here when Rapunzel said, "Well… I do like ducklings."

"Yay!" Flynn cheered with a large smile. Upon noticing the smile, Riku was almost positive it was nothing more than a fake. As the group marched up to the door, Sora turned to Riku with a look of excitement. In return, Riku gave a nod of relief, though the feeling of dread remained. Flynn swiftly opened the door of the building and called out, "Your finest table, please!"

Even before Rapunzel's squeal had escaped her lips, Riku knew his previous feeling had been accurate. He kept an especially close eye on his surroundings as Flynn led Rapunzel, Sora, Violet, and him through the interior of what happened to be a bar filled with hunters, murders, thieves — the list just went on. While Rapunzel had her iron skillet extended at her arm's full length, the thugs had already paused whatever activity they had been doing just to witness the arrival of what Riku perceived was unbelievable uncommon. Even Violet seemed extra cautious as she followed Riku and Sora. For a moment, Riku thought he heard the angel's heart thumping loudly — possibly out of discomfort, fear, and anxiety.

"Do you smell that?" Flynn asked, breaking Riku's train of thought. The latter took a deep sniff of the interior air and nearly choked. The scent he detected was a weaker version of the stench Xehanort's Heartless had reeked. He heard Flynn add, "What are you getting? For me, it's part bad-man-smell, and the other part is _really_-bad-man-smell. Overall, it just feels like the color brown."

Sora glanced at Riku with a hint of uncertainty. Riku returned with a nod. "It's the scent of Darkness," he whispered.

It was then the pair noticed Rapunzel's face was gradually turning pale. In turn, Flynn stated, "Gee, you don't look so good. Perhaps we should call it a day. This _is_ a five-star joint. If you can't handle it, maybe you should be back in your tower."

All of a sudden, the door leading out slammed shut and a voice snapped, "Is this you?"

A large thug with antlers sticking out of his hat pointed at a poster on the crooked door. To Sora, Riku, and Violet's shock, the picture on it looked identical to Flynn Rider; the only difference was the shape of his nose. Riku was even more alarmed upon reading what was written on the poster.

**WANTED: **_**FLYNN RIDER**_

Flynn said, "Now they're just being mean."

Sora exclaimed, "You're a… bandit?!"

Riku was speechless; they had been trusting a criminal the whole time. Now he, Sora, Violet, and a girl named Rapunzel were trapped in a room reeking of Darkness. One of the other thugs — a large, bald man with a hook for his right hand — exclaimed, "It's him alright! Find some guards! That reward will buy me a new hook!"

Another thug shouted, "I could use the money!"

"What about me?!" the thug blocking the door yelled in turn. "I'm broke!"

Within seconds, a multitude of thugs were quarreling over who would receive the reward money for Flynn's capture. All Riku could do was shake his head. He had previously witnessed many others yield to the Darkness through their selfish desires for money and almost always become Heartless. The mere sight of the thugs disputing was no different. Without any warning, Rapunzel shouted, "Put him down!"

The result was one turn of events Riku had never imagined was possible. All the thugs stopped and whirled their attention to where Rapunzel now stood on the other side of the room. After a few moments, she rushed, "Look, I don't know where I am, but I need him to take me to see the floating lanterns because I've been dreaming about them my entire life! Find your _humanity_! Didn't any of you ever have a dream?!"

Her answer came from the thug with the hook. He pulled an axe out from a sheath on his back and marched right up to her. Riku was so speechless that he simply froze in place, even as Sora attempted to save Rapunzel and the other thugs rapidly blocked his path. He spotted Violet leaning against the wall directly to his right, her face frozen with fright. All anyone could do was watch the axe-wielding bandit get dangerously close to Rapunzel as his face showed determination of hurting her. Just when Riku was sure Rapunzel was about to be injured, the thug emotionlessly stuttered, "I had a dream… _once_!"

To everyone's amazement, the thug tossed his axe across the room and into the wall — just above an accordion player's head; terrified, the musician immediately started playing a tune on his instrument. Bewildered, Riku glanced at Violet; the latter did the same. The thug announced, "_I'm malicious — mean and scary! My snare could curdle dairy! Violence-wise, my hands aren't the cleanest! But despite my evil look, temper, and hook…_ "

The thug marched to a nearby stage in a small corner of the room. As he hopped to the keys of a dusty, old piano, he continued, "_…I always yearned to be a concert __**pianist**__!_"

He began playing as Rapunzel and Sora walked over. "_Yes, I'd rather be called deadly,_" the thug declared to them. "_For my killer show-tune medley…_"

After a quick scale on the piano's keys, the thug called out, "Thank you! _'Cause way down, deep inside, I've got a dream!_"

As if on cue, the rest of the thugs began chanting along, "_He's got a dream… _"

"You see?" the first thug added. "_I ain't as cruel and vicious as I seem! Though I do like breaking femurs, you can count me with the dreamers! Like everybody else, I've got a dream!_"

Riku gave a smirked smile as he shook his head. Whatever he had just seen was usually the impact Sora's interaction had on others. He could easily leave an everlasting mark on whomever he met. At the very thought of Sora calling a total stranger a "trustworthy friend", Riku nearly giggled aloud.

"_Well, I've got scars, lumps, and bruises… _" a second thug declared from behind Riku. He spun around to see a thug with an extremely big nose calling, "_…Let's not even mention my complexion! Despite my extra toes, my __goiter__, and my nose… _"

The thug twirled to where Violet was standing next to Riku. He gracefully handed her a golden flower. It took Violet a few seconds to realize what the guy had done. Meanwhile, the thug continued, "_…I'd really like to make a love connection! Can't you see you me with a special little lady…_ "

As the thug continued singing, Riku watched as the former snatched Violet off her feet and tied a rope around her waist. When he pulled on it, the angel was yanked into the air like a puppet. As the thug tied the rope down, he added, "_…While I'm one disgusting __blighter__, I'm a __**lover**__ — not a fighter! 'Cause way down, deep inside, I've got a dream!_"

As the rest of thugs began chanted along, Violet attempted to break free, which made her swing around the room in a series of slow circles. All the thugs admired the angel as she swung overhead, though Sora could tell she was starting to blush and get dizzy. The thugs speedily crowded around Sora. One said, "What's your dream?"

"Well…," Sora stammered momentarily. For a few seconds, he pondered over what to say. Finally, Sora said, "_My dream is not the same as you — _that much you can make true!_ It takes place beyond this very world… _"

As Sora chanted away, he spotted Riku staring with an expression that appeared to say "What?" He simply shrugged this aside and continued, "_…To protect the Light, and keep it burning bright! Like all the rest, I've got a dream!_"

The thugs all nodded at each other before they turned over to face Flynn. "Well forget about me," he grinned. "I don't sing!"

Unfortunately, all the thugs pointed their weapons at him. Flynn sighed deeply before he started, "_I've got dreams like you — no really! They're just less… touchy feel-y! They mainly happen somewhere warm and sunny… _"

Although Sora seemed to be about to ask if Flynn was referring to an island, Flynn added, "_…On an island that I own, tanned, rested, and alone… surrounded by enormous piles of money!_"

This only brought out a series of boos from the crowd of thugs. As far as he could tell, Riku was certain Flynn Rider was going to be injured when Rapunzel proclaimed in a cheerful, peaceful voice, "_I've got a dream! I just want to see the floating lanterns gleam! With every passing hour, I'm so glad I left my tower! Like all you lovely folks, I've got a dream!_"

The entire building echoed with the sounds of cheering, joy, and chanting as the occupants began to sing as a chorus. One chimed, "Call us brutal… sadistic… and grotesquely optimistic!"

The whole room continued to echo with the feeling of happiness when Riku suddenly realized the strong sense of Darkness had nearly vaporized — replaced by the sweetness of the warmth of Light. He smiled brightly as everyone else cheered loudly, "_…Way down, deep inside, __**I've got a dream**__!_ Yeah!"

The final burst of cheerfulness had created such a vibration that the rope Violet was connected to broke loose, causing her to land onto a wooden, round table beside both Sora and Riku. The two instantly spun to her and Sora asked, "You okay?"

After a brief moment, Violet nodded though Riku was certain her landing had stunned her arms and legs while her wings appeared to be unharmed. As the pair of Keybladers helped the angel off the table and onto her feet, the door to the bar banged open. A voice hollered, "I found the guards!"

Despite concerned for Rapunzel and Flynn's safety, Riku and Sora gently lifted Violet off the table. Her legs were so unsteady that she painfully collapsed almost immediately after her feet touched the floor. Grabbing her arms, Sora and Riku carefully dragged her behind the closest table, leaned her up against the wall beside it, and took their seats; pretending nothing had happened. They kept their focus on the soldiers as the latters stomped into the building; their leader scanned the room before snapping, "Where's Rider? Where _is_ he?! I know he's in here somewhere!"

He turned to the rest of the guards. "Find him," the head soldier ordered. "Turn the place upside-down if you have to!"

The rest of squadron scattered about; Riku assumed they were ruthless hunting Flynn. He glanced all around the bar's interior, but saw no sign of Rapunzel or Flynn Rider. His eyes continued to wander, even as the head guard marched over.

"Have you see _this_ fugitive?" he interrogated, holding up a copy of Flynn's wanted poster. Riku and Sora both gazed at each other for a second. "Nope," Riku lied. "Sorry."

"Better check outside," Sora smirked with his hands positions behind his head. If the guard was amused, he was so well-disciplined that he refused to show any identification of it. At that moment, a wheezing cough flooded their ears, followed by a small cloud of dust emerging from the wall. The eyes of the Keyblade wielders instantly grew with distress; they both knew its source. With a slow turn of the head, both Sora and Riku saw it was true; Violet was gasping for clean air as she slowly rose from the floor.

Sora and Riku both gasped in fear when the head soldier spotted the angel and instructed another to seize her. One of the other guards snatched her right wing, only to quickly release it as she began laughing uncontrollably. "Please stop," Violet had insisted between bursts of laughter. "That _tickles_!"

"Maybe she's who you're looking for?" Sora teased; Riku slapped his right hand on his face. Now Sora was going too far. Earlier, he sought to conceal Violet's presence from the skeptical eyes of the soldiers. Now, he was mocking her and apparently attempting to get her detained. Fortunately, the head soldier let the issue pass. "We don't have time for this," he scolded. "There's a dangerous convict on the loose!"

"Sir!" A soldier came sprinting over. He came to a halt in front of the captain, panting, "There's no sign of Rider!"

For several, extensive seconds, the captain glared doubtfully at Sora, Riku, and Violet. The two Keyblade wielders acted as innocently as they could while the angel was attempting to do the same. At once, a large, white horse with a blonde mane and tail came barging in through the doorway. Everyone's eyes whirled to face the unexpected visitor; the lead guard exclaimed, "Maximus!"

Maximus; the horse marched through the room, speedily sniffing the floor like a bloodhound. The very image of the animal was utterly beyond mystification for Riku. He noticed Sora's baffled expression as his friend was watching Maximus's every movement in disbelief. He shook his head; anything confusing to Sora truly was astonishing — especially since his best friend had witnessed such things countless times.

Maximus leaned over the bartender's counter, pointing one of his hooves at it with a nod of his head, though the soldiers stared at it with expressions of bewilderment; the head soldier shook his head. With a snort of disgust, Maximus pushed a lever on the counter, triggering a panel of floor to lower into a ramp. Beyond was a shadow-filled tunnel. "A passage!" the head guard exclaimed. "C'mon men, let's go!"

As the entire squadron filed one-by-one into the unknown corridor in pursuit, Riku swiftly decided this was the chance to leave unnoticed. He yanked onto Sora's hoodie — towing his friend out the doorway; Violet silently followed.

It all happened less than three yards from the saloon's entrance when a startled Sora violently forced Riku's grip off his jacket. Having lost his balance, Sora stumbled backward and banged into Violet. This resulted in both the Keyblader and angel toppling down an incline and ramming into an enormous, thick tree. As he strolled over, it took every last piece of self-control Riku had to prevent himself from exploding with uncontrollable laughter. This was not something he would've seen every day — unless Sora was within his field of vision. It wasn't enough.

* * *

There they were; the Angel of Dreams and a Keyblade-Master-In-Training lying in a pile at the base of the slope. Sora's right arm was trapped under Violet's left leg; Violet's left wing was pinned beneath Sora's right shoe. Sora's face was frowning as Riku approached, stopping a few feet short of the two. The latter's amusing smile suddenly exploded into a burst of laughter; his arms flew to his stomach to keep himself from getting sick. All Sora could do was roll his eyes before his best friend snickered, "You're still the lazy bum, Sora. Always have been… always will be."

"Hey!" Sora's frown had unexpectedly transformed into an appalling glare. "I don't see _you_ trying to help untangle us!"

Riku's arms crossed his chest with a mischievous aspect in his eyes. "Now's your chance to be _useful_."

The frustration and humiliation had been stifled for too long. With a yell of anger, Sora leapt onto his feet. Violet was thrown off and onto the grass, a painful yelp escaped her mouth as her left wing was roughly tugged underneath Sora's shoe. Even as the angel was recoiling in agony, Sora jumped onto a dumbfounded Riku — knocked the latter into a shaded pond of slimy muck.

"Take that back!" an enraged Sora snarled as the muddy water splashed everywhere. His hands lunged for Riku's neck until a voice screamed from someplace inside his head.

"_**STOP**_**! DON'T GIVE IN! **_**FIGHT**_**!"**

Without a second to spare, the ravaging flames within Sora's eyes vanished in the same amount of time it takes a flickering candle to blow itself out. He hopped off Riku, his eyes filled with utter perplexity as the latter clambered to his feet.

"What… happened?" Sora wondered aloud. His eyes fell to his open palms. "…That was so… "

He quickly looked at Riku for an explanation, yet all his friend could was shrug. Still mystified, Sora turned to Violet, only to get the same reaction. He didn't have an explanation, but he still knew was something was definitely wrong.

"That was the power of _Darkness_…" Sora sadly realized. His eyes closed as he bowed his head towards the ground and his shoulders dropped.

Sora heard a splash of water a few minutes later; it was followed by a spray of fresh water on his body. He slammed his eyes open in alarm. There stood Violet with a small, wooden bucket that had once been filled with water. That water was now dripping from his entire body, even his head was drenched. Thanks to the gel he had previously applied before departing on this adventure, Sora's hair was still spiked. He smiled pleasantly at Violet with his hands placing themselves behind his head. "Thanks, but I don't really need a bath," he quipped.

The angel shook her head. "You knocked Riku into that _filthy_ pond," she clarified. "If you ask me, you _both_ needed one!"

She gestured towards a small slope upon which Riku sat with drops of water still dripping from his silver hair; his back turned in their direction. Placing his hands at his sides once more, Sora's smile faded as he understood what had occurred. He exhaled in a deep sigh as he eyes closed once again.

When they reopened, the sun had disappeared and nightfall had just descended upon the forest. Sora felt a hand on his right shoulder, wincing for a moment when he realized what it was. The Angel of Dreams was spreading comfort to him. From his peripheral vision, Sora saw her smile and knew this meant that everything would turn out well in the end. He gave a small smile of approval in return. Violet nodded kind-heartedly, permitting Sora to accept a few minutes of calm, relaxation.

"_**Being a Keyblade Master is all I've dreamed about!"**_

"_**Well you're not the **_**only**_** one!"**_

"_**I know! You, me, and Ven… "**_

"…_**We **_**all**_** share the same dream."**_

"Hey!"

The shout brought Sora and Violet's focus to Riku, the latter waving his arms around as though signaling a passing ship — with the notable exception of the absence of flags. He shouted down to them, "Are you two 'lovebirds' busy, or can I show something?"

At the mere mention of 'lovebirds' both Sora and Violet instantly stepped two feet apart from one another. They darted up the steep incline to where Riku was eagerly awaiting their arrival.

* * *

Riku watched impetuously as both his friends slowly poked their way up the hilly terrain with the pace of the slowest snail in existence. He had glanced at a water-proof watch on his left wrist for what felt like the millionth time when the duo strode up, panting with faint wheezes in-between. He simply shook his head before Sora questioned, "What's… up?"

Riku pointed into the distance. About two miles down the gradually-descending road was the flickering light of a campfire; a column of smoke was rising into the air overhead.

"What about it?" Violet inquired, staring at the light in question. Sora gave a nod in turn.

"I was thinking," Riku explained. "Whoever made camp down there may have seen them."

Violet and Sora exchanged looks of mystification with each other. After a long minute, Sora asked, "Who's 'them'?"

With a groan of disbelief, Riku elaborated, "I _meant_ Rapunzel and Flynn Rider. Remember?"

"Oh yeah!" Sora exclaimed, his eyes growing in recollection. "We promised to help guide Rapunzel to see those 'lanterns' and bring her back home safely."

He crossed his arms, deeply pondering. "At least, I _think_ that's right… "

"Talk about semi-photographical memory!" Violet marveled. This made Sora grin with a hint of pride.

"Then let's check it out." Riku asserted. A moment later, he was leading the group down the declining road in the direction of the illuminating campfire.

As they drew closer, familiar voices filled their ears.

"…As you wrap your magic hair around my injured hand."

"Just don't… don't freak out."

The three hid under the cover of a set of trees on the outskirts of the clearing. Peeking out, Riku quickly recognized Rapunzel and Flynn sitting on two logs beside the campfire. Rapunzel's golden hair was lying about the clearing with the very end of it wrapped around Flynn's left hand in the shape of a bandage. This sight not only made Riku feel a tad worried, but also a bit confused. Why was Flynn's hand wrapped in Rapunzel's hair? The very concept was mind-boggling; there wasn't a logical explanation. Was there? He didn't know.

With a deep sigh, Rapunzel shut her eyes and began singing, "_Flower, gleam and glow. Let your power shine… _"

The pupils of Riku's eyeballs grew in surprise. As Rapunzel sang, her hair started to glow with a golden illumination. It travelled from her head along the entire length of her hair. As it reached Flynn's hand, Rapunzel sang, "_…Save what has been lost. Bring back what once was mine — what once was mine._"

As Rapunzel finished her song, her eyes opened and the golden glow of her hair disappeared. With a curious look on his face, Flynn unwrapped the hair from around his left hand. As he removed the last strand, his eyes erupted in alarm and he quickly began to hyperventilate. At the same time, Riku was puzzled beyond belief. What had Rapunzel done to Flynn's hand?

"Please don't freak out!" Rapunzel blurted an instant before Flynn could yell in fright. Instead, he began asking a load of questions at an alarming rate. "I'm _not_ freaking out! I'm just interested in your hair and the _magical_ qualities that it possesses! How long has it been doing that exactly?"

For a moment, Rapunzel paused from being caught off-guard before showing a smirked smile. She reluctantly hesitated, "Forever… I guess?"

"_Really_?!" Sora exclaimed, rapidly emerging from the surrounding foliage and grabbing the attention of the two. Riku amusing gave a shake of his head as he and Violet appeared from their own hiding places.

It took barely three minutes for everyone to get re-acquainted. Finally, Riku heard Sora ask, "So, why _does_ your hair glow?"

For a few minutes, Rapunzel froze with uncertainty. With a sigh, she replied, "I don't know. Mother said when I was a baby, people tried to cut it — they wanted to take it for themselves. But when it's cut… "

She carefully moved her hair from behind her neck, revealing a tiny strand of short, brownish hair. "…It turns brown and loses its power," Rapunzel finished.

Now Riku was speechless — alongside sad, curious, and concerned. Rapunzel's hair was magical as long as it remained intact. From some reason, this story sounded pretty familiar to him. He was on the verge of pondering when Sora said, "That's… that's _awful_!"

Rapunzel nodded sadly. "A gift like that needs to be protected, which is why Mother never… I never… "

Her voice trailed off as Riku finally knew what she meant. "You never left that tower," he summarized. "Did you?"

Rapunzel's eyes began to show signs of tears. It was true; she had remained inside the tower for the duration of her life so far. This made Violet question, "You're still going back?"

"_No_! Yes!" Rapunzel asserted firmly, burying her face within her hands. "It's complicated!"

For approximately two minutes, the clearing was full of complete silence. Although he didn't speak it, Riku already understood the dilemma Rapunzel was facing. Her heart longed to be free to explore. Unfortunately, her mother had sealed her in the security of a secluded tower so her "magical gift" could be preserved. However, this only had resulted in her heart becoming a prison — she was both the captor and the prisoner.

At last, Rapunzel sat up and took a deep breath. She turned to Flynn (who Riku noticed had remained silent) and inquired, "So, 'Eugene Fitzherbert', huh?"

"Eugene Fitzherbert?" Riku questioned, surprised by this unexpected comment.

"Who's… Eugene Fitzherbert?" Sora asked while Violet stared in bewilderment.

"I'll save you all the story of poor, orphaned Eugene Fitzherbert," Flynn muttered. "It's a little bit of a downer."

Despite this, everyone looked at him with anticipation. Flynn smirked a grin before he began. "There was this book I used to read every night to all the younger kids, _The Tales of Flynnigan Rider_ — swashbuckling rogue, richest man alive, and not bad with the ladies either!"

"Was he also a thief?" Riku interrogated.

Flynn paused in thought. "Well… _no_," he answered. "He had enough to do anything he wanted to do; go wherever he wanted to!"

Sora blurted, "So why did you become a thief?"

Flynn finished, "I don't know… I was a kid with _nothing_. Probably seemed like the better option."

"I see… " Riku said, thinking hard. Though he wasn't sure if Sora or Violet had noticed, Riku was positive Eugene Fitzherbert was the _actual_ identity of Flynn Rider. He smugly smiled, already knowing Eugene was no different than Xehanort. The latter had craved for answers beyond the limit his teacher, Ansem The Wise, had firmly placed to prevent harmful things from happening to the universe. Yet, that wasn't enough to keep Xehanort from rebelling against his instructor, banishing him into the Realm of Darkness, and continuing the forbidden research to well-beyond the extreme — and accomplishing it _all_ under the name of "_Ansem_". Xehanort's Heartless became known as "Ansem, The Seeker of Darkness" and the rest was history.

Having been lost in the depths of contemplation, Riku snapped back into focus as Flynn said, "I'll just… I'll go get some more firewood."

"I'll come," Sora perked up. "You'll need a _strong_ man!"

Riku slowly shook his head in amusement. The only thing he knew Sora would end up doing was leaning against a tree and snoozing, leaving Flynn to do all the work.

As the two set off for the nearby trees, Rapunzel's voice stopped them. "Hey," she called. "For the record, I like Eugene Fitzherbert _much_ better than Flynn Rider."

In response, Flynn said, "You'd be the first, but thank you."

He led Sora off into the darkness of the forest beyond the clearing. As Sora began chatting away, Violet wondered aloud, "Let's _hope_ they get some wood. It's starting to get chilly here."

All Riku could do was shake his head. "With Sora, that'd be a dream come true," he remarked, even though Violet gave a look of repulsion in return. He added with a smile, "…Just kidding."

This seemed to allow Violet a chance to relax. She smiled.

"Well! I thought they'd _never_ leave!"

The sound of the unknown voice caused a shiver of fright to fill Riku's senses. He and Violet quickly whirled their eyes over to a section of the clearing directly behind Rapunzel; the latter was doing the same. There stood a slender, pale-skinned woman with curly, greying-hair and grey eyes. She was wearing a crimson-red dress and gold earrings, though her body was largely shrouded by a black cloak. For what felt like ten minutes, Riku assumed this was the figure in the black coat come to seek vengeance upon their enemies.

"Mother?!" Rapunzel exclaimed in alarm. "H-how did you _find_ me?!"

Rapunzel's mother stepped forwards and immediately hugged her daughter. "It was easy — really," Rapunzel's mother explained. "I just listened for the sound of complete and utter betrayal and followed that."

The words escaped Riku's lips before he could stop them. "Who are you?"

Rapunzel's mother looked at both Riku and Violet, only to frown. Rapunzel broke free of her arms and said, "Mother, this is Riku and Violet. They've been protecting me out here."

After Riku and Violet nodded, Rapunzel's mother introduced herself. "You can call me 'Mother Gothel'. I'm… thankful _someone_ was able to defend my daughter."

With that, Gothel grabbed Rapunzel's arm. "We're going home, Rapunzel," she declared. "_Now_!"

"But Mother," Rapunzel persistently blurted. "I've been on such an incredible journey and seen and learned so much — I even _met_ someone!"

"Yes, the wanted thief," Gothel sarcastically proclaimed. "I'm so proud… C'mon!"

Rapunzel continued to break free of her mother's tight grip. All of a sudden, she blurted, "Wait a moment, Mother! I think… "

At this sudden pause, Gothel released her hold on Rapunzel's arm. Riku and Violet both watched closely as a huge smile formed upon her face. "…I think he likes me!"

"_Likes_ you?" Gothel scoffed. "Please, Rapunzel! That's demented! This is why you never should've left!"

Riku spotted Violet spectating this entire series of events with a feeling of skepticism. He knew they were probably both wondering the same thing; had Mother Gothel truly kept Rapunzel locked inside the tower to protect her from harm? They silently agreed to continue watching.

Gothel was still ridiculing away. "Why would he like you? Look at you; you'd think he was impressed! Don't be a dummy! Come with me!"

"_No_!" Rapunzel self-confidently retorted. This brought looks of shock and surprise to Riku, Violet, and Gothel alike.

In return, Gothel's face transformed into a creepy smile. "No?" she began. "Oh, I see how it is! You think you're so mature now — such a clever, grown-up miss!"

Looks of puzzlement formed upon Riku and Violet's faces while Rapunzel's showed signs of uncertainty. Gothel continued, "If you're so sure, go ahead and give him _this_!"

She reached behind her back and pulled out a brown satchel. Riku was still puzzled, even as Rapunzel exclaimed, "How did you…?!"

"_This_ is why he's here!" Gothel interrupted, reached into the satchel and pulling out a golden crown with a glass point. "Don't let him deceive you! Give to him!"

As Gothel tossed both the crown and satchel to Rapunzel, an unprecedented wave of astonishment surged through Riku. He still heard Rapunzel cry, "I will!"

"Trust me my dear!" Gothel scowled, snapping her fingers. "_That's_ how fast he'll leave you! I won't say I told you so! If you do know best, then go and put him to the test!"

Gothel started to storm off into the surrounding forest when Rapunzel yelled, "Mother! Wait!"

Gothel halted in her footsteps, twirled around, and declared, "If he's lying, don't come crying! You know Mother knows best!"

Less than a second later, Mother Gothel had vanished into the trees. Rapunzel, Riku, and Violet stood frozen in place when a voice called out, "We brought the firewood!"

Riku took a peek back and saw both Flynn and Sora marching into the clearing, their arms loaded down with heavy logs and a variety of sticks for the campfire. He glanced at Rapunzel, who had mysteriously hidden the satchel in the brief amount of time. He shrugged the feeling of tensed worry off and proceeded to rejoin the others at the campfire.

Still, the feeling of looming Darkness was not too far away….

* * *

**A/N: ...CLIFFHANGER! Yet, it's NOT hanging from a cliff! Nevertheless, it's still hanging with TENSION - THE OVERWHELMING SUSPENSE...!**

**ANYWAY, it's time to reveal what Disney Movie this world [CORONA] is based upon; _TANGLED (2010)_.  
THERE! NOW YOU KNOW!**

**I have just ONE final thing to express, PLEASE DON'T LEAVE WITHOUT REVIEWING! THE FATE OF THIS STORY DEPENDS ON IT!**

**This is SoraLego278 saying, "See Ya Later, Keybladers!"**


	6. Ch6 - Longing For Freedom

**DISCLAIMER: I OWN NOTHING EXCEPT MY ORIGINAL CHARACTERS!**

**A/N: Okay... I'll be honest! It took me nearly TWO WEEKS to write this chapter! Trust me, it isn't fun when you get stuck with a sudden wave of WRITER'S BLOCK and lose track of what you wrote in your story!**

**Fortunately, since Chapter 5 was SOOO LONG, I decided that might account for the slower writing process... AND THE FEWER NUMBER OF REVIEWS!**** I Could've Sworn you actually LIKED my story, but your lack of reviews probably is the cause of the delay and the Writer's Block I had to ENDURE - Or Probably NOT...**

**Anyway, I just wanted to point out THREE MAJOR REASONS why I switched out the _Hunchback of Notre Dame_ for _Tangled_ - AT LEAST FOR THIS STORY!**

**(1.) I noticed how there wasn't a single Fairy-Tale-based world in KH3D, so I decided this would work well - especially since it seems to be one of the "darker" Disney ones.**

**(2.) The plot of the _Hunchback of Notre Dame_ just made KH3D seem a little TOO DARK in my opinion. Therefore, I decided to strike more of a balance between light and darkness with my own version.**

**(3.) IF you ever were to compare _TANGLED _and _THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME_, you might discover how similar their storylines are. For instance, Mother Gothel's character was partially inspired by Judge Frollo; she even acts like him from time to time. Also, both of these stories involve someone wishing to explore outside the boundaries of where they are allowed to go.**

**I believe I might have been rambling on a little TOO MUCH! Last, but not least, I wanted to clarify that this chapter opens with a FLASHBACK.**

**That's all for now! SEE YOU AT THE END!**

* * *

**CHAPTER 6  
****Longing For Freedom**

_"I need to see them, Mother," Rapunzel exclaimed, still unsure if her point had been delivered effectively. "Not just from my window… in person. I **have **to know what they are."_

_"You want to go outside?" Mother Gothel jeered. She shook her head in disbelief with a sound of, "Tsk, tsk, tsk!" She closed the tower's main entranceway — a window — before returning to face Rapunzel. "Why Rapunzel, you know why we stay up in this tower!"_

_With a deep feeling of uncertainty, Rapunzel stammered, "I know, but… "_

_"That's right!" Mother Gothel declared, not letting Rapunzel finish her own thought. "To keep you safe and sound, dear! Still, I have one request… "_

_Rapunzel threw herself into Mother Gothel's arms. After the two had embraced for about two minutes, Mother Gothel finally said, "Rapunzel?"_

_"Yes?" Rapunzel returned, her eyes full of hope._

_"Don't **ever** ask to leave this tower," Mother Gothel sternly stated. "Again!"_

_The hopeful glimmer in Rapunzel's eyes faded out of view with a disappointed sigh. "Yes… Mother."_

_Gothel's embrace tightened. "I love you **very** much, dear!"_

_"I love you **more**!" Rapunzel returned with a smile._

_"I love you _**most**_!" Mother Gothel finished with a kiss._

* * *

"Time to rise and shine!"

With a groan of aggravation, Riku slowly sat up, yawned deeply with a full stretch of his arms before his eyelids sluggishly fluttered open. He was downright shocked, expecting Sora to be the voice calling everyone to awaken. However, Sora was still lying three feet away; his head still rested directly against the hard stone he had used for a pillow. Riku had curled up in a patch of wildflowers while Eugene had laid his head upon another smooth rock near Sora, and Rapunzel had snuggled up inside her hair. The only one left happened to be Violet, the Angel of Dreams.

The very sight of the angel announcing it was time to wake up puzzled Riku. Why would _she_ wish for them to stop dreaming during their sleep? It didn't make any sense.

Riku carefully climbed onto his hands and knees, noticing he and the angel were the only ones awake. He carefully stood up onto the grass and tip-toed over behind Violet as soundlessly as he could, a smirked smile forming upon his lips. When he reached the spot he desired, the Keyblader squatted down, taking a few seconds to make certain the angel was unaware of his presence.

As expected, Violet was already showing evidence of frustration in her voice as she continued to shout for the others to wake up, to no avail. When she finally was ready to give up, Riku seized the moment of opportunity. He leapt onto his feet, tapped Violet on the shoulder, and hollered, "Gotcha!"

Violet let out a startled scream as she jumped into sky and spun around, hovering at the same time. She looked down to see who had startled her, only to recognize the chuckling image of Riku. Her eyes started to glare as she flapped her wings gently downwards until her feet had touched the security of the grassy clearing. As she could do was snap, "That wasn't funny! You nearly gave me a heart attack!"

Riku gave a shake of his head in reply. "So, I guess I'm the only one with a sense of _humor_?"

Violet was taken aback; this was easily expressed upon her face, though Riku failed to notice. "You're just as lazy as _he_ is," the Keyblade Wielder remarked in amusement, gesturing his hand in the direction of where Sora was sound asleep.

All this did was cause Violet's glaring eyes to flare up. For a few minutes, the angel sustained her glowering eyes at the silver-haired teenager's giggling behavior. As far as the latter could tell, this was no different from Sora's reaction to the legend surrounding the Paopu Fruit. At a mere mention of sharing it with Kairi, Sora had nearly gone bonkers and physically injured his friend. Fortunately, Riku had admitted to basically teasing Sora rather than the other way around.

Their confrontation came to an abrupt halt when a desperate voice shouted, "Let me go! Let me go!"

The pair whirled their focus from each other and spotted the same, white horse they had seen in the saloon now dragging Eugene Fitzherbert away from the clearing. In the blink of an eye, both Riku and Violet were sprinting after the wanted criminal. At that exact moment, Rapunzel and Sora sprinted directly in front of them and grabbed Eugene's outstretched arms as the horse was dragging him by the thief's right boot.

"Give me… him!" Rapunzel demanded while pulling extra hard. The horse shook its head in return, causing Sora and Rapunzel to pull with as much strength as they could muster. Eugene came flying into both Sora and Rapunzel while his boot had remained ensnared in the horse's teeth. Not willing to yield easily, the horse quickly charged back at them.

As Eugene scrambled onto a patch of grass behind Sora, Rapunzel rushed forwards to block the animal's path. The horse tried to desperately step around the young woman, but Rapunzel kept stepping in front of its path. Riku and Violet had just reached the spot where Eugene was lying when Rapunzel placed her hands up at the horse's snout. She reassured, "_Easy_… "

The horse relaxed and stared back in confusion. At the same time, Riku turned to Eugene and asked, "You alright?"

Eugene nodded, though it was quite clear his eyes were filled with fear. He continued to stare at the horse until Rapunzel had persuaded the animal to sit down and drop the boot from its teeth. Rapunzel began to pet the horse's nose as it wagged its tail. "You are such a good boy!" she comforted. "Yes, you are!"

"Huh?!" was the only thing that escaped Sora's lips. It was obvious — at least to Riku — that this whole turn of events was mind-boggling. He continued to stare before sputtering, "But he's… he's a _bad_ horse, right?!"

Violet stepped up to the horse, took a few moments to observe the creature's reaction to Rapunzel's petting, and smiled. "He's a big sweetheart," she remarked. "Nothing 'bad' about this guy."

Rapunzel glanced at the horse's collar before adding, "Isn't that right,… Maximus?"

The horse nodded happily in return. From where he sat, Eugene muttered, "You've got to be kidding me!"

At that precise minute, a group of creatures emerged from the trees at the edge of the clearing. One glance and Riku was certain they were trouble-makers. The circus-colored frogs wielding swords and shields came hopping over, startling Rapunzel, Maximus, and Eugene. The former exclaimed, "Who's _that_?!"

"_Nightmares_!" Violet replied as she raised her right hand into the direction of the enemies. A goat with red horns, green hooves, a blue body, and a yellow tail appeared. The angel shouted, "Go, _Billy_!"

Billy charged at the monsters and began to toss them every-which-way as Sora and Riku summoned their Keyblades and charged into the horde. Sora swung his weapon at one of the frogs, only to have the enemy's shield block him. Instead, Riku took the opportunity to strike the Nightmare from behind, destroying it in a flash.

"They keep coming!" Sora shouted as he identified another group of frogs charging towards them. One of these frogs had a crown upon his head and appeared to be leading the others. Noticing this, Sora charged at the leader, only to get thrown back by a powerful block of a shield and swipe of a sword. Riku was about to attack next when Billy charged at the frog and grabbed it with his horns. He tossed it into the air before jumping and kicking it multiple times. After one final kick, the frog leader magically vanished. Violet ran over, awestruck at having seen the creature. "_**Lord Kyroo**_," she marveled. "That was _him_… "

"Lord Kyroo?" Riku questioned when both he and Sora turned to face the angel with Billy. Violet quickly told them about how she had once encountered a strange Nightmare calling himself 'Lord Kyroo' and was challenged in a match instantly. After a long, tiring battle, the Nightmare had vanished — vowing to return one day and seek another battle with her.

"That's quite a story… " Sora commented.

"Yeah," Riku affirmed, placing his right hand against his waist and his left hand at his side. "We might not have seen the last of him. We'll have to be ready."

At that moment, the group heard Rapunzel say, "Today's kind of the biggest day of my life. The thing is, I need for you _not_ to get him arrested — just for twenty-four hours. What'd ya say?"

The three turned their attention back to where Rapunzel was trying to have Maximus and Eugene issue a 'peace treaty'. When Eugene raised his hand, the horse turned away, causing Rapunzel to add, "It's also my birthday — just so you know."

In response, Maximus sighed before placing his paw into Eugene's hand. The two shook reluctantly when the sound of ringing bells echoed in the air from somewhere close by. Rapunzel set off with a look of determined curiosity while Sora, Riku, and Violet followed along behind.

* * *

As it happened to be, the ringing bells were coming from a town carefully constructed upon a mound on an island. A tall, stone castle with lime-green colored roofs was situated at the peak of the hilltop.

As Rapunzel excitedly sprinted across a long, arched, stone bridge towards the town, Sora paused briefly to admire the scenery scattered about the sea surrounding them. He peered out over the water and towards the distant shoreline along the coastal forests. Knowing how much this made him think of his last visit to the world of _**Twilight Town**_, Sora beamed. He recalled how the woods surrounding the mountain slopes of the town's streets were no different than the ones he was looking at now. The layout of the town, he assumed, was also going to be similar to the world where the sun would never set nor rise. Nevertheless, he was positive this would be quite the adventure.

As the group neared the middle of the bridge, Sora and Eugene caught a glimpse of another wanted poster. At the mere glance of it, Eugene ripped the poster off the bridge, crumpled it up into a wad of parchment, and placed into Maximus's snout. In turn, Maximus spat the poster onto Eugene's face, which only resulted in the pair beginning to pull punches at one another. Thanks to some minor intervening from Riku (and Pascal's scowling eyes), the two reluctant allies halted in their quarrel.

Upon reaching the other side of the bridge, the group walked through a gigantic stone archway and into a plaza. The entire square was filled with the hustle and bustle of townspeople as they were going about their usual daily activities. Sora swept his eyes across the scenery, amazed by all the festive banners strung up all around the various streets, between buildings, and on the peaks of maypoles. The whole sight reminded him of the Seaside Festival of Twilight Town.

As they all stepped around the thick crowds, several people casually strode across Rapunzel's hair, forcing Riku and Violet to help Eugene collect it all up into a huge ball of golden hair. Spotting some nearby girls playing with their dolls' hair, Violet called them over with a small bit of persuasion. After Rapunzel's hair had been braided several times over with small flowers to hold it together, Sora smiled. Riku rapidly noticed this and nudged his friend a little, causing Sora to partially blush.

* * *

As they were waiting in a line for some grub, Sora noticed Rapunzel stepping over to a nearby mural. On the painting was a portrait of a king and queen holding a small girl with golden hair.

Sora turned to one of the shopkeepers beside him. "What's that?" he asked, indicating the mural.

The shopkeeper looked at the mural for a moment before he answered, "It's a painted portrait of the Royal Family of Corona. That little girl is their _lost_ princess."

Sora was astounded. "Their 'lost princess'?"

The shopkeeper nodded. "She was kidnapped one night and no one has seen her since. They still cannot find her anywhere. That was eighteen years ago — _today_."

As the shopkeeper turned back to his customers, Sora took a closer examination of the painting, wondering if there was any connection between the 'lost princess' and the irony involving Rapunzel's story. He continued to stare at it in thought when the sound of playful music echoed in his ears.

Sora turned to face a nearby plaza, awestruck by what he saw there. There was a small group of musicians playing along while Rapunzel was twirling around in a dance within the square. She grabbed his arm, pulling Sora into the dance alongside several other spectators. Thus, the dance party grew and grew until everyone in the vicinity was engulfed in the celebration. Everyone that is, except for a baffled Riku, confused Violet, and surprised Eugene.

As Sora signaled for his friends to join in the merriment, Riku shook his head, claiming, "I've never danced."

"I'm good where I am," Violet speedily stated. "_Just_ watching."

Eugene held up his hand and was about to shake his head when Maximus shoved him into the dancing crowd and neighed in excitement. The wanted thief gave Maximus a disapproving frown as he was dragged off into the festivity by Rapunzel. At the same time, Riku mischievously pushed Violet into the dance, causing Sora to lead the angel along. Riku gave a smirked grin as Violet snorted in dissatisfaction while stuck dancing with everyone else.

* * *

It was nearly sunset when the party died down, allowing Violet a chance to rest. Well, not exactly 'rest'; her legs instantly collapsed from under her the second the music ceased. Next to her was a worn-out-from-dancing Sora; he was still trying to catch his breath while sitting upon the plaza with his legs stretched out. He wiped a patch of sweat from his forehead as Rapunzel and Eugene stepped over with Riku and Maximus.

Noticing the angel's exhaustion, Riku reached out his hand for her. She graciously accepted it, resulting in the Keyblade wielder and the angel looking straight at one another with relief. Violet's wings slowly flapped a few times as she gave a deep smile without hesitation. This was a moment she suddenly had the urge to desire wishing would last for eternity.

Sadly, that moment came to an unexpected close when the sounds of screams took everyone's attention. The shopkeeper Sora had spoken with earlier was frantically shouting, "_Monsters_! Someone, get the guards!"

Violet's ears perked up at the mention of the term 'monsters'. She heard Sora exclaim, "Monsters?!"

He summoned his Keyblade while Riku did the same with his own. Violet nodded with a call of, "Must be some Nightmares. Let's go!"

With that, the Angel of Dreams led both Sora and Riku straight through the parting crowds of terrified townspeople. In no time, they reached another plaza, only it was full of circus-colored frogs with chef hats and wielding frying pans and spatulas. One frog, however, stood out amongst them all; _**Lord Kyroo**_.

Lord Kyroo shouted out to the horror-stricken faces of the townspeople, "Ribbity-Ribbit! I challenge _Thee_!"

At the very sound of the frog's voice, Sora charged at the creature, with his Keyblade poised to attack on a moment's notice. Yet, Lord Kyroo noticed this 'ambush' and dodged the attack. Rather, Riku and Violet charged from the mass of people and began fighting back — Violet re-summoning _Billy _to assist.

After watching Sora, Riku, and Billy destroy numerous "Frog-Chefs", Lord Kyroo apparently decided it was time to flee. He leaped into the air, disappearing through a mysterious dark portal. After the enemy was gone, Violet sighed deeply. Spotting this unusual state of depression, Riku turned to her and asked, "Is something wrong?"

Sora paused for a brief minute to observe the angel's uncomfortable behavior. He finally said, "Hey, what's up?"

Violet didn't even give one indication of acknowledgement to the pair. Instead, she continued to look down towards the cobblestone plaza they were still standing in. This only made both Riku and Sora more puzzled.

All at once, a voice shouted, "To the boats!"

* * *

A few minutes later, Riku, Sora, and Violet were gathered with Maximus along the wooden pier of one of the kingdom's dockyards. Rapunzel, Eugene, and Pascal had all climbed into a large, wooden canoe for a miniature excursion into the sea around the town. As he began to paddle, Eugene reached into the canoe and tossed a burlap sack of fresh, red apples onto the dock — straight in front of Maximus. The horse eyed him warily until Eugene confirmed, "What? I bought them!"

Believing the wanted criminal's words, Maximus began to gobble up each individual apple one-by-one. After the horse had devoured five of the apples, Eugene called from a short distance away, "…_Most_ of them!"

Dumbfounded, Maximus froze in his movements, questioning which apples were paid for and which had been stolen — IF they were stolen. The prospect of such events unfolding made even Riku shake his head, especially since Sora was already doing the same. To the former, witnessing the unexpected was something he often would've naturally ignored instead of attempting to piece together any 'clues' involved. The only exception to that happened to be soon after Kairi had first arrived on the islands and not a soul knew precisely where she had originally come from. Though, there was also that deep, hidden, confidential… _secret_ he'd always been keeping within. Yet, that was a completely unrelated piece of information, wasn't it?

Riku continued to watch with both Sora and Violet as the sun steadily dissolved beneath the horizon, the shadows of the night came into focus, and a lukewarm wind blew across the water — gradually transforming into a cool breeze as the darkness of the night finished setting in. He and the other two were constantly gazing up into the deep-indigo-colored sky, waiting for when the floating lanterns Rapunzel had been talking about would finally appear high up above their heads.

As he waited extra patiently, Riku spotted Violet sitting on the edge of the pier, gazing out over the deep, blue water with closed eyelids. She released a deep, sigh of depression as Riku asked, "Are you alright?"

With her eyes still closed, Violet sighed, "I'm… _scared_."

"Why?" Sora questioned, now wondering himself why the angel was acting so gloomy. The only other friend of his that traditionally behaved in such a gloomy state was Eeyore. Yet, even _that_ donkey was almost happy from time to time.

After a long pause, Violet took a deep breath. "Remember how Rapunzel has been waiting for eighteen years to see these lanterns," she explained. "What if it's not everything she dreamed it was going to be?"

"Don't worry," Sora cheerfully encouraged. "It will be!"

Violet smiled despite the fact it was short-lived. She still seemed depressed.

"Could you tell us what's bothering you so much?" Riku inquired, kneeling down to ensure he was at eye-level with the angel. He watched as Violet slowly opened her eyelids, revealing a tear-stricken set of eyes.

She took a deep breath once more. "Riku," she began. "Recall how earlier I said you were 'the lucky one'?"

Riku paused to double-check his memory-bank. When he had first met Violet, she had verbally publicized his deepest, most-confidential wish — right in front of Matt, Jackie, and Digit. After that, he had learned about who she was (the Angel of Dreams) and had wished his life was just like hers. However, she had muttered something about how Riku was still better off than she was.

His eyes grew big in realization. Riku turned to Violet and asked, "Is this why you said my struggles with the Darkness are _better_ than my life would've been as a dream?"

Violet nodded. "I'm the Angel of Dreams," she solemnly professed. "I always witness the dreams of others and exist through them. Yet, I've never had a single dream of my own. If everyone were to simply stop dreaming… "

Her voice trailed off, resulting in a sudden sob of tears. Riku glanced at Sora; his best friend nodded in agreement. Riku turned back to Violet. "Sounds like you'd like to have your _own_ dreams."

"Yeah," Sora affirmed. "I once had a friend who wished to be free of a lamp's spell. His last 'master' set him free with his last wish. Genie would've understood your problem."

Violet stared at him, confusion showing across her face. "Who's 'Genie'?!"

Sora hesitated, finally stating, "…I'll get back with you."

Riku shook his head; this was one quality of Sora's that would never alter in the least, little bit. The former turned back to Violet. With look of reassurance, he said, "Perhaps there's a way we could help you get out of this dilemma?"

Violet stared in shock. "You'd really do that — for _me_?!"

"Are you sure?" Sora questioned, astounded by Riku's sudden decision-making.

Riku nodded. "Yeah," he confirmed. "No one should make their heart a prison, right?"

Violet gave a nod in return. As Riku stretched out his hand, the angel took it, allowing the Keyblade wielder to help her back onto her feet. With a grateful smile on her face, Violet swiftly hugged Riku; the latter was flabbergasted for a second until the comfort the angel always was emitting soothed him completely inside and out. They remained this way until Sora's voice proclaimed, "Whoa! What is _that_?!"

The duo whirled their attention back to Sora, noticing the teenager pointing into the sky above the castle. The item of interest happened to be a small, glowing lantern. It was followed quickly by countless others, rising from the town's buildings, castle, ships, and even the nearby forest areas. They continued to watch as the lanterns rose higher and higher into the air, forming what one could have easily described as a swarm of beauty over a sea of glass.

While the lights of the lanterns continued to fill the sky above, Riku could detect a rare moment of tranquility he might have been wishing he knew for the full duration of his lifetime so far. He was still watching in awe when smaller glimmers of light caught his eye. He turned around, noticing Violet holding up a trio of lanterns bearing the kingdom's symbol — the sun's outer-most layer.

As both Riku and Sora turned to face the angel, Violet spoke up, "I thought it would be nice for us to take part in this occasion. I just… didn't know before if it was a good idea. Now…, I believe it's a great idea. You know what I'm saying?"

"Don't worry," Riku soothed. "We'll be here for you."

"Yeah," Sora added. "Count on it!"

In response, Violet's smirked grin instantly transitioned into a deep, joy-filled smile. She handed each of the two a lantern while keeping one for herself. At the count of three, the trio sent their lanterns flying up, up, up into the air to join the gathering of the others. Even so, it was the movement occurring about their lanterns that snatched both Riku and Sora's eyes; Riku and Violet's lanterns were circling each other whilst Sora's was continuously orbiting the other two.

Riku glanced over to where Violet was currently attempting to prevent a drifting lantern from landing into the waves below. She hopped over, flapping her wings as she swooped into the air and caught the lantern; she gently pushed it back into the sky above to rejoin the multitude grouping together. As the angel set her feet back upon the docks, Riku sneakily approached her and took her hands. Startled, Violet spun around to face him; she relaxed, knowing he meant her no harm. The two continued to stare at each other calmly for several, lengthy minutes had passed.

"I spy with my little eye, two 'lovebirds' sticking together!"

Riku and Violet jostled around for a moment before seeing Sora's amusing smirk; they immediately knew he was the one who had spoken. All Riku did was shake his head in return.

"No! _Wait_! Guys!" The sound of the voice caused everyone — including Maximus — to turn their focus into the direction of another pier further down the dockyard. To their shock and bewilderment, a group of soldiers were currently dragging off a figure that strongly resembled Eugene Fitzherbert. It wasn't confirmed until the strange captive exclaimed, "_Rapunzel_!"

At the mere sight of Eugene being apprehended by the soldiers, Riku automatically had the feeling something had definitely gone wrong. His feelings were strengthened when Maximus stared out into the forests beyond the bridge. "Something's happened… " he muttered aloud.

At the exact moment, the charm situated around Violet's neck began to glow brilliantly, startling everyone. A beam of light shot out towards the closest stone wall like a laser, turning into a projection against the wall. Baffled beyond belief, Riku sputtered, "What is… "

"It's a _flashback_," Violet recognized, her eyes growing big in anticipation. "They usually appear whenever a certain turn-of-events that has occurred can be shown visually."

Knowing this information, Sora, Riku, and Violet all watched as an image of Rapunzel and Eugene sitting together in their canoe came into focus. Eugene was holding a lantern for each of them.

* * *

_As Rapunzel looked at Eugene, she smiled before speaking. "I have something for you, too."_

_She reached behind her back, grabbed something, and pulled it out to show the wanted criminal; it was his satchel. For a moment, Rapunzel was still overly hesitant. "I should've given it to you before, but I was just scared. The thing is… I'm not scared anymore. You know what I mean?"_

_Eugene placed his hand upon the brown satchel, sliding it off with the words, "I'm starting to."_

_Rapunzel cheerfully grinned all the more._

* * *

"That doesn't show us anything," Sora blurted. "She just gave him back the satchel! So **_what_**?!"

"_Hey_," Riku sharply growled. "Just watch the rest of it!"

* * *

_As Rapunzel and Eugene continued to look each other straight in their eyes, Pascal (who was sitting on the canoe's railing) turned as red as fire, covering his eyes with his feet. Yet, moments before the two could share a kiss, Eugene paused, noticing something on the distant shoreline. Spotting his unprecedented behavior, Rapunzel asked, "Is… everything alright?"_

_After a brief pause, the young man nodded. "Yeah… everything's fine," he stammered. "It's just… "_

_Eugene glanced at the satchel, clearly knowing he still had to do something important._

_A few moments later, the canoe was resting against the banks of the shoreline. Eugene clambered out of it, snatching the satchel in the process. He stated as confidently as possible, "…There's something I **still **need to take care of."_

_For nearly a minute, Rapunzel froze, thinking of how to respond. "Oh… okay!" she finally spoke up._

_As Eugene marched off into a patch of thick fog, Pascal turned to Rapunzel; the latter smiled at him. "It's alright, Pascal." She reassured, though it was still quite clear that even she wasn't so convinced._

_At least five minutes passed before the shadow of a figure emerged from the fogbank. Rapunzel let out a sigh of relief. "I thought you'd taken the crown and left me!" she announced._

_To her shock and surprise, the figure turned out to be two people; two men. One had mutton chops, was wearing green, and wielding a sword. The other had an eye patch, was wearing black, and wielding a dagger. The first of the two declared, "He did! See for yourself!"_

_Rapunzel took a look out into the sea. Out in the middle of the smooth, calm waters was a small, wooden sailboat heading in the direction of the kingdom. The 'captain's' silhouette greatly resembled that of Eugene himself. Rapunzel was now frightfully alarmed. At that moment, one of the two men said, "A fair trade — a crown for the girl with the **magic **hair."_

_Upon hearing this, Rapunzel gasped and she whirled around to face the pair. One of the men smirked, "How much do you think somebody would pay to live strong and healthy forever?"_

_The other man pulled out a gigantic, burlap sack as the two moved in to capture Rapunzel._

_"**No!**" Rapunzel desperately pleaded. "**Please! **_**No!**_"_

_Realizing her words were falling upon deaf ears, Rapunzel ran for her life. In the process, her hair got caught upon a log. She frantically tried to yank it free — to no success._

* * *

To say Sora's mouth was literally agape would be only partially correct; he was both mystified and speechless as the projection suddenly blurred and faded away. Everything turned dark once again as the Keyblader began to ponder. Why would Eugene reveal Rapunzel's secret to a pair of outlaws? Why would he abandon her? Even more importantly, why did he call out her name as the guards arrested him? Something about the whole situation seemed very far-fetched.

Before Sora (or anyone else) could say anything, a second gathering of soldiers emerged from the bridge. They were escorting two men into the town to be taken to the castle's dungeon as quickly as possible. Spotting them, Sora exclaimed, "Hey! **_Those_ **are the two who went after Rapunzel!"

"You're right!" Violet exclaimed a moment later.

"Yeah," Riku added. "But there's no sign of her."

Acting quickly, Sora summoned his Keyblade and charged over to the convoy. He was moving so fast that Riku and Violet's shouts did not register within his brain. Rather, when he reached the soldiers, Sora pointed his Keyblade at the escort. Instantly, the guards gasped in fear at the very sight of such a young man wielding a strange weapon. Sora glared at the pair of bandits he had just seen in the flashback. "Where _is_ she?!" he snarled.

The one with the eye patch replied, "Look! It wasn't us! It was that old lady! **_She_ **set us up!"

Confused, Sora stared for a brief second before sprinting away from the escort. He reached the others in no time at all. Riku exclaimed, "Sora! Don't run off like that again! What would _Kairi_ say if you got arrested?!"

"Forget about it," Sora interrupted, though there was nothing to interrupt. "They said something about an 'old lady' setting them up. What's _that_ supposed to mean?"

"Old lady," Violet murmured softly. After a few minutes, she exclaimed, "I got it!"

Sora looked at each of his friends in surprise; Riku and Violet had each said the same exact thing at the same exact time. The latter two looked at each other in bewilderment. At that moment, Sora inquired, "Got what?"

"Rapunzel's mother," Riku explained. "She looked like an old lady."

"Mother Gothel," Violet elaborated. "Would she **_really_ **set up her daughter to get captured by two thugs?"

"Unless…," Sora paused, recalling the strange mural in the town. There was something strange about the painting. Why had Rapunzel been examining it so carefully? Perhaps there _was_ a connection between the lost princess and Rapunzel after all. Still, why would Rapunzel's mother keep her locked away inside a tower for years and years if she was trying to keep her safe?

Sora stared out towards the shoreline. "…Rapunzel **_isn't_ **her daughter!"

* * *

**A/N: _CLIFFHANGER! HANGING FROM A CLIFF! AND THAT'S WHY HE'S CALLED 'CLIFFHANGER'!_ Sorry! I just HAD to add that _Between The Lions_ joke - for now reason in particular!**

**As it is, you might have noticed the sequence involving a "projection". From here on out, keep your eyes peeled for such scenes as they WILL be popping up at various intervals.**

**Also, I sincerely apologize for the EXTREME LENGTH of Chapter 5. Since _TANGLED_ happens to be one of my favorite Disney Movies, I just got carried away and probably wrote what should've been two chapters instead of one.**

**As I always say, PLEASE DON'T LEAVE WITHOUT REVIEWING! THE FATE OF THIS STORY DEPENDS ON IT!**

**This is SoraLego278 saying, "See Ya Later, Keybladers!"**


	7. Ch7 - 'Hypocrite'

**DISCLAIMER: I OWN NOTHING EXCEPT MY ORIGINAL CHARACTERS!**

**A/N: Well, here it is! The FINAL/LAST Chapter for the world of CORONA/_TANGLED_.**

**I'm certain you're probably waiting rather... well... impatiently to read on. Yet, I have a few things still to say!**

**ONE: I'd like to thank all of you for giving SO FEW REVIEWS! C'MON! IT'S NOT THAT HARD TO POST A SIMPLE REVIEW! IF YOU REALLY WANT ME TO WRITE MORE QUICKLY, CONFIDENTLY, AND CHEERFULLY, THEN I AM GOING TO NEED MORE REVIEWS!**

**Sorry about the "raising my voice" segment, but by the time the story is finished, I'll be EXPECTING at least 50 or more REVIEWS!**

**IF the goal above is not met, I might just write my NEXT STORY ELSEWHERE!**

**Yeesh! I REALLY just had to get that out of my system! So, who's ready FOR READING?!**

**Have a GREAT time enjoying the story!**

* * *

**CHAPTER 7**  
**"****Hypocrite!****"**

Riku was shocked into total silence, unable to believe his ears. Sora had just finished explaining about how Rapunzel had stared curiously at the painted mural depicting the kingdom's 'lost princess'. When he heard how much Rapunzel resembled the young princess, and how the latter had been mysteriously abducted ironically at the same time Rapunzel had just arrived in the hidden tower, Riku was certain Sora's theory was more-than-likely accurate. Even though his best friend generally was considered to be the "lazy bum" by the other teenagers from the islands, Riku still knew such leisure-prominent behavior would not interfere whenever Sora needed to use his Keyblade for anything.

"So," Riku finally said after Sora had finished explaining. He noticed Violet was deep in thought as he continued to speak. "Rapunzel _is_ the 'lost princess'?"

"I think that's right," Sora approved. He crossed his arms in serious contemplation. The two turned their eyes over to Violet. The angel's arms were crossed upon her chest as her wings seemed to give a gentle flap on a steady beat; her right foot was tapping on the same beat as her glowing wings. Even through the rays of the progressively-rising sun, both Riku and Sora could still visually detect her violet-colored glow, and they could still feel her radiation of Light.

At long last, Violet uncrossed her arms and looked at Sora and Riku directly; her wings and foot halted in their flapping and tapping respectively. With a clear voice, the angel concluded, "If Rapunzel happens to be the 'lost princess', than Mother Gothel _must_ be the kidnapper."

"But… _why_?!" Sora questioned, hungrily searching for a direct explanation; it was also showing in his voice.

"Wait," Riku blurted before Violet could answer to Sora's query. "Those two thugs who tried to capture Rapunzel claimed her hair can keep someone living forever. If that's true, than Mother Gothel kidnapped her to ensure _she'd_ live forever!"

"Of course!" Sora agreed, realizing what his friend was stating. "She kept Rapunzel in the tower so she could have Rapunzel's powers all to herself!"

Violet paused in consideration. After a minute, she gasped — now knowing the truth. "That means Rapunzel's in _danger_!"

Riku noticed Sora gasping in astonishment alongside himself. If Rapunzel was ensnared in severe peril at the hands of her abductor, than there undoubtedly wasn't an instant to squander. All of a sudden, Sora exclaimed, "We need to _save_ her! C'mon!"

Sora took off running for the town as fast as his feet would allow him to. "Wait!" Riku shouted back, causing the spikey-haired youth ahead to unexpectedly arrive at an abrupt stop in his footsteps. "We need Eugene's help!"

Sora whirled around in his place. "No time," he interjected. "Rapunzel needs our help — _fast_!"

"How will we find the tower _without_ him?!" Violet spoke up.

This enquiry brought out a sudden jolt of anxiety upon Sora's complexion. He placed his hands behind his head while his usual silly-looking grin formed upon his lips. Though his cheeks failed to redden, it was quite obvious — especially to Riku — how much humiliation Sora was undergoing. "Didn't think of _that_," he awkwardly muttered aloud. "We'll just have to save him, too."

Out of his peripheral vision, Riku thought he caught a glance of Maximus (one of the kingdom's horses) smiling upon them. He simply shook his head in response.

* * *

Deep within the castle's dungeons, a group of soldiers were securely escorting Eugene Fitzherbert (whom they still called Flynn Rider) along a corridor on their route to the courtyard and the infamous gallows. As they marched through a small vestibule, all the doorways unexpectedly slammed shut all around them. Shocked, the head guard pounded his fist against the door directly in front of the convoy. "What's this?!" he snapped in a fit of anger. "Open up!"

A panel in the door slid open and the sound of Sora's voice asked, "What's the 'pass… word'?"

The head guard might've felt baffled, but he showed no indication of such. Rather, he impatiently snarled, "Open this door! You have _three_ seconds!"

As the head guard counted each second, the two soldiers behind him were snatched aside through a side doorway. Thus, when the head guard reached "three", he spun around, quickly noticing he was the only soldier remaining in the atrium. His eyes instinctively searched every-which-way around the apprehended convict. The door behind him opened without a sound. Sora stepped in and slapped an iron skillet against the soldier's helmet — knocking the head guard unconscious in an instant. All the teenage Keyblade wielder could say was, "How'd you like that?"

"_Frying pans_," Eugene exclaimed in realization, a giant smile forming upon his face at the sight of his ally, Sora. "Who knew, right?"

"Yeah!" Sora agreed with a nod of his own head. Their reunion was rapidly put on hold when the sounds of loud banging came from the old, wooden door behind Eugene. Within seconds, the door shattered into splinters as a surge of guards charged into the room — determined to capture the fleeing criminals.

"C'mon!" Sora announced as he swiftly led Eugene down a lengthy corridor and out into the castle's courtyard. Along the way, most of the guards in pursuit were sidetracked as Riku charged in, leading them all in a separate direction.

When Sora and Eugene arrived in the large, dirt field consisting the layout of the courtyard, they instantly halted in their places. Swarms upon swarms of soldiers were darting down a nearby staircase straight for them. At that moment, Violet swooped from high above, stirring up a cloud of dust and dirt. The soldiers were blinded momentarily — giving just enough time for Violet to grab Eugene and hastily toss him into the air.

When Eugene landed, he was speechless on top of astounded. He had inexplicably ended up on the saddle situated on the back of Maximus the horse. "Max," he exclaimed in surprise. A moment later, Sora, Riku, and Violet had reached them. Eugene was hardly able to speak. "Sora… Riku? Violet! You _all_ came here?!"

"Yeah!" Sora acknowledged in an extraordinarily hasty reply. "We need your help!"

"Rapunzel's in danger," Riku explained as concise as he could. "We _need_ to find that tower."

Violet nodded in agreement. She asked, "Do you know where to find it?"

In an instant, Eugene answered, "Yeah! We should go."

Sora and his two companions quickly climbed onto Maximus's back as a castle tower behind them flew open; a large group of soldiers began shooting at the heroes with crossbows. In turn, Maximus rapidly galloped as he headed along the castle walls before a dead end came into view.

"Slow down! We're never going to make it!" Sora yelled in alarm as another group of soldiers were almost at the same end.

To everyone's amazement and puzzlement, Maximus darted straight through the gathering soldiers and leaped into the air beyond. For a few moments, both Sora and Riku felt a sensation of weightlessness. It swiftly ended when Maximus's hooves slid down a roof beside the castle's walls — knocking off an entire section of shingles in the process. The horse then leapt from the roof and landed, unharmed, onto the streets of the town. Several townspeople abruptly halted in their footsteps as the horse with its four riders sped right through the town and reached the stone bridge leading towards the forest.

As Maximus was running across the bridge, Eugene looked the horse in the eye. "Okay Max," he announced. "Let's see how fast you can run."

In the blink of an eye, Maximus's galloping swiftly transitioned into a blurry sight of sprinting. Away the group flew through down the forested paths and straight for the hidden tower.

* * *

When Maximus finally arrived in the secluded valley, the sky had unknowingly converted from a sunny, cloudless expanse into a shadowy, cloud-filled view. Eugene refused to waste a single moment as he hopped onto his feet and rushed for the tower's base; Sora, Riku, and Violet were a short distance behind.

The first to reach the tower, Eugene frantically looked straight up to its sole chamber. With his hands cupped around his mouth, he called out, "Rapunzel! Let down your hair!"

Unfortunately, not a single response could be detected while Sora and the others caught up with Eugene. Riku lifted his eyes to the top of the tower, wondering if anyone was home. He had the feeling Mother Gothel was waiting up there to ambush the group. Chances were, she would have been aware of anyone drastically trying to retrieve Rapunzel from within the confinements of the lonely tower. Yet, before the Keyblader had the opportunity to reveal his sensation of dread, the doorway of the tower creaked open and an extensive patch of golden hair flew out and landed upon the tower's base. Believing Rapunzel had to inside, Eugene automatically began climbing to the chamber. Riku watched with anticipation as the young man entered the tower's doorway and disappeared from sight.

It was barely a minute before the trio gathered at the tower's base heard the sickening noise of somebody being pierced by a weapon. Violet let out an audible gasp. In a state of distress, Sora exclaimed, "Eugene!"

"It must have been an ambush!" Violet declared.

Riku's eyes instantly grew with a combination of fright, concern, and awareness appearing in them. This was exactly what he had dreaded would occur; Eugene had been injured by an unanticipated attack of Mother Gothel's design. He already knew what was required to be done. "C'mon," Riku ordered the other two. "He _needs_ our help!"

"Yeah!" Sora agreed, summoning his Keyblade. At the same time, Riku did the same. Violet gave a nod of approval to them. With a pair of nods in reply, Sora and Riku both clutched the golden hair stretching for the ground and clambered up. Meanwhile, Violet was waiting as patiently as she could allow herself to.

* * *

When Sora finally stepped through the window for the tower's doorway, he heard a series loud _**CRUNCHES**_ from underneath his shoes. He dared himself to look down at the floor, only to notice it was littered with shards of glass from the oval-shaped mirror the Keyblade wielder had seen his reflection inside of at the start of this adventure. His rapidly swept his eyes across the chamber, spotting Eugene collapsed in painful agony not three feet away. Next, the image of Mother Gothel frustratingly dragging a gagged and chained Rapunzel towards a nearby secret passage caught his eye. Rapunzel was squirming desperately when Sora shouted, "Rapunzel, we'll save you!"

Despite his hasty jog across the room, Sora came to a dead halt in his tracks; Mother Gothel had pulled out a small dagger. Since he had stopped a few feet short of the malevolent woman, Sora was able to safely position his Keyblade in his traditional fighting stance.

All the teenager could do was glare while Riku stepped into the room behind him. One look at the scene currently unfolding, and Riku's Keyblade was set for a battle. "Let her go, _now_!" Riku strongly commanded.

Mother Gothel glowered back. "You boys stay out of this," she retaliated. "It doesn't concern you!"

"Yes it does," Sora snarled in response. "She's our _friend_!"

Hearing these words of refusal, Mother Gothel raised her dagger to strike at Sora's body, which Sora took notice of and was prepared to block in less than a second. Still, before the villainess could attack, Rapunzel yelled, "No! Stop, you two!"

Everyone stared at Rapunzel in complete surprise. Just one glance at their reactions was enough to make Rapunzel speak all the more. "If you let me heal Eugene, I'll go with you!"

Sora was baffled. Why would Rapunzel choose to let her captor win out? Was she just wishing to save Eugene? Or was there another reason in mind? Either way, Sora suddenly was sensing a bright Light starting to emerge from within Rapunzel's heart. If that was the case, her heart was a prison no longer.

"I _promise_," Rapunzel pleaded, causing Sora to finally realize there was nothing more he could do. As far the teenager was able to comprehend, whenever someone ever made a promise, they meant it. Thus, Rapunzel was serious about giving up hope. She finished, "Just let me _**heal** him_!"

The reaction upon Mother Gothel's face made it obvious what was about to happen next.

* * *

It was approximately five minutes after Rapunzel's promise had been confirmed when Mother Gothel had put a chain on Eugene's right wrist, attaching the other end to a chair close by. She looked at the young man directly with a disapproving glare. "This is in case you get any ideas about following us!"

While Rapunzel got to work in order to save Eugene from certain death, Mother Gothel turned her attention towards both Riku and Sora. The latter two were still glaring with their Keyblades poised to battle within a minute's notice. With an evil smirk forming on her lips, Mother Gothel called out, "As for you two, here's something to keep you both occupied!"

As she raised her hands into the air above, a strange-looking dark portal formed in the room. To both Riku and Sora's astonishment, out hopped a frog with a crown upon his head and wielding a sword and shield. One look at it, and they immediately knew who it was — the Nightmare; _**Lord Kyroo**_.

In a frog-like manner, Lord Kyroo turned to face his opponents, raised his sword, and declared, "Ribbity-Ribbit! I challenge _Thee_!"

"Lord Kyroo," Riku recognized. "What's he doing here?"

"C'mon!" Sora instructed his friend. "We've got a job to do!"

Riku nodded before glaring back at the Nightmare standing before him. In return, Lord Kyroo charged at the two, swiping his sword horizontally to slice them in half. Fortunately, the duo Keybladers had leaped away just in the nick of time. Riku watched as Sora leapt forwards and smacked the enemy's face with two swings of the Keyblade. Rejoining the battle, Riku swiped at the monster's head, but Lord Kyroo was too quick and blocked with his shield. A moment later, both Riku and Sora were beginning to show signs of exhaustion. Sora gasped for breath, asking, "How will we beat this guy?! His shield's in the way!"

This instantly gave Riku an idea. He replied, "Aim for the shield. I'll hit him from behind."

Although Sora was confused, he already knew there was no point in having an extensive debate over this. He ran for the monster and swung his Keyblade for the enemy's shield. At the same time, Riku struck his weapon through the creature's back — mortally wounding it instantly.

As Lord Kyroo spun around the room in a state of disorientation, he tripped over Rapunzel's hair. His sword sliced straight through the golden strands as the Nightmare known as _**Lord Kyroo **_exploded into a shower of bubbles. At the same moment, Eugene unprecedentedly cut Rapunzel's golden hair straight through with a shard of glass from the mirror. Rapunzel was alarmed; her long, golden hair had been cut off entirely. The result was every strand of hair quickly transitioning from a golden color to a brownish color.

"No!" Mother Gothel exclaimed in a state of total panic and terror. "What have you _**done**_?!"

The villainess's attempt to desperately seize Rapunzel's hair ended in futile. Rather, as the hair in Mother Gothel's hands turned brown, her skin became so pale that Riku was positive it resembled what he had heard snow looks like. The woman's hair swiftly became grey before turning whiter than a sandy beach. Her whole complexion transformed, Mother Gothel desperately stared at her appearance in the remains of the broken mirror. Now in a state of complete aberration, she covered her head with a black blanket, though totally unaware of the fact she was currently stepping towards the tower's entrance.

Seeing an opportunity to end this turn-of-events justly, Riku quickly strode up to the window as Mother Gothel stood blindly in front of it. Acting as fast as he could, Riku jolted forwards and pushed Mother Gothel out the window. He peered out and watched as the form of Mother Gothel fell head-first down to the ground below. Within seconds, she had landed upon the grass, but there was nothing more than a cloud of dust rising from the blanket. All Riku could say was, "Good riddance!"

At that precise moment, Violet came flying up fast. She reached the window in a flash; Riku noticed her face was filled with bewilderment, shock, and horror. The angel was barely able to speak. "What was that?!" she sputtered out. "Someone just… fell out of the tower!"

"It was Mother Gothel," Riku explained as he gently helped Violet inside. "Rapunzel's hair has been cut. She must've aged to death or… "

He paused for a brief minute, thinking how to explain his conclusion as easy-to-understand as possible. He finally added, "…the Darkness in her heart consumed her."

Violet nodded in return. From what Riku could see, the angel was able to comprehend every word. No doubt they knew the selfish woman — or witch — had given into the Darkness and tried to keep everything her way by any means necessary. Unfortunately, she had become yet another victim of the depths of dangerous Darkness lurking within every living soul.

"No! Stay with me, Eugene!"

The voice automatically brought both Riku and Violet back to reality. They looked over to where Rapunzel was urgently attempting to revive Eugene with her hair — to no success. Her hair had been cut and all its power was lost forever. Nearby, Sora was watching with his arms crossed upon his chest.

"Rapunzel?" Eugene questioned with a weak voice.

"What?" a frantic and worried Rapunzel returned.

Eugene's eyes slowly sealed up. "You were my new dream."

Rapunzel smiled. "And you were _mine_!"

As he took his final breath, Eugene's entire figure went limp and turned pale. Rapunzel's eyes begun to swell with tears as Sora looked down with a sigh. "They were _so_ close!" he muttered.

Riku sorrowfully turned his eyes away from the late Eugene Fitzherbert, not wishing to burst into tears himself. If there was anyone he knew would be crying at such a sight, it was Kairi. The very mention of someone dying at all was most-certainly too much for a Princess of Heart to handle. When it occurred to him about how much Kairi had missed both Sora and him during their previous quests, Riku knew he's postulation might be correct.

Riku was taken from his thoughts when he heard Rapunzel's voice, "_Heal what has been hurt. Change the fate's design… _"

In reaction, the Keyblade wielder turned his eyes over to where Rapunzel was still kneeling beside the body of what had once been Eugene Fitzherbert. Beside the two, Violet was kneeling on the floor — her eyes shedding a few tears. Rapunzel continued, "_…Save what has been lost. Bring back what once was mine… _"

Leaning over Eugene's head, Rapunzel finished, "_…What once was __**mine**__!_"

An instant later, a tear fell from her eye and landed upon Eugene's cheek. As he watched carefully, Riku spotted the tear absorbing into the cheek and flowing down his body. A glimmer of golden light forming on Eugene's stomach stole everyone's focus from mourning; Rapunzel's eyes grew in surprise. All at once, bright strands of golden light flooded the dark, shadow-infested room of the tower's solitary chamber. Sora exclaimed, "What's going on?!"

His query was immediately answered when the light became the shape of a flower over Eugene's body. It faded a moment later; Riku was baffled into silence. He watched as Rapunzel looked over to Eugene's head. It started to move as his eyes fluttered open and he took a gasp of fresh air. The first thing he did was say, "Rapunzel?"

Relief was starting to show upon Rapunzel's face. "Eugene?" she asked.

In turn, Eugene said, "Did I ever say you've got a thing for brunettes?"

"**_Eugene_**!" With a cry of glee and happiness, Rapunzel hugged Eugene as tightly as she could. When the two were at eye level, a sudden kiss occurred between them. The sight of this scene forced Sora to turn his head away; Riku nudged him a little with a wink of the eye. All this did was make Violet roll her eyes and give shake of her head.

Outside the tower, the cloudy sky had disappeared and the sun had come out. A rainbow shone down from the waterfall and down into valley below.

* * *

Violet watched with the others as the speechless guards hurried into the castle to fetch the king and queen. After Eugene had been healed, Sora had freed the former from the chain with his Keyblade. The entire group had slid down Rapunzel's hair, met up with the waiting Maximus, and rode the horse all the way back to the town and the awaiting palace.

All at once, the brown doors bearing the sun-shaped emblem of the kingdom opened and out stepped two people — the king and queen of the land. The king was tall and slender with blue eyes, and sporting a brown beard that matched his hair under a golden crown. The queen was tall and slender with green eyes, long, silky drown hair under a golden crown, and wearing a purple dress. One look at the queen, and Violet was certain Rapunzel resembled her in several ways.

This was confirmed when the queen stepped over to Rapunzel and placed her hand upon the latter's cheek. In an instant, she recognized her daughter (the 'lost princess') and hugged Rapunzel. A moment later, the king joined the hug, knowing his precious daughter had come home to stay.

The whole sight made Violet feel the warmth of radiant Light coming from the Royal Family. She smiled when the queen extended her hand for Eugene. In turn, Eugene accepted it, resulting in his addition to their group hug.

"Just the way it needs to be," Violet told herself. She was positive this was going to be a happy ending. "She was a princess worth waiting for!"

* * *

Soon, Sora, Riku, and Violet were taking a stroll across the stone bridge connecting the town to the surrounding forests. As a gentle wind blew across, Sora's eyes caught the sight of a lantern still floating through the sky far up above. He smiled greatly before saying, "Hard to believe… all that time, Rapunzel let her heart be trapped inside the Nightmares Mother Gothel gave her."

"Yeah," Riku approved. "But Rapunzel's heart was _still_ seeking freedom. It's like… Mother Gothel's _Darkness_ was trying to keep her free will imprisoned."

"But we _fixed_ that," Violet stated. "Didn't we?"

"Yup," Sora agreed. "Her heart is no longer a prison!"

"**_Hypocrite!_**" a mysterious, deep voice declared. "**_You're_ **the one whose heart has become a prison!"

Everyone halted in their places, spun around in the direction of where the castle was, and froze in both perplexity and disbelief. Walking straight for them was the young man wearing the same black-hooded coat of the late Organization XIII. Sora glared right into the stranger's golden eyes, exclaimed, "_You_ again?! What're you talking about?!"

The stranger came to an abrupt stop in his footsteps. All at once, a dark portal appeared beside him, allowing him to leave through it while another figure came out of it.

Now Sora was awestruck; this stranger was wearing the exact, same coat as the young man, but his appearance was strongly similar to that of Sora himself. The figure's hair was black, his skin was slightly more pale than Sora's, and his eyes were golden-yellow. The only thing this stranger said was, "Even if you are _not_ the prisoner!"

With that, the second figure vanished through the same dark portal. Sora charged at the portal with anticipation of seeking answers to his multitude of questions; he wasn't fast enough and the portal closed before him. Instead, Sora looked down in bewilderment.

"What does he want with you two?" Violet asked as she and Riku approached Sora.

"I think we'll find out soon," Riku admitted, though even he was feeling somewhat unsure.

At that exact moment, a bright light came shining down from above. As the three turned their eyes to see it, the shape of a transparent keyhole formed over the calm waves of the ocean. As if by instinct, Sora and Riku summoned their Keyblades at the keyhole. Like they had foreseen, a pair of beams of Light shone from the tips of their weapons, merged halfway to the keyhole, and struck the keyhole directly. A tunnel of Light formed as the keyhole unlocked.

While the Light headed for the group, Sora thought to himself,

_My heart's a… **prison**?!_

Less than an instant later, Sora, Riku, and Violet had dove into the tunnel of warm, soothing Light. They already knew they had just awakened the Sleeping World of **Corona**.

* * *

"_Hey Axel… you didn't forget, did you?"_

"_**Hmm? Forget what?"**_

"_You made us a promise."_

"_**I did?!"**_

"_You said you'd always be there… to bring us back."_

"_**Yeah… best friends forever… "**_

"_Got it memorized?"_

"What… what happened to me?" Lea questioned aloud as his eyes sluggishly opened. Yet, he had no recollection of falling asleep. As his vision came into focus, he realized his head was lying upon a hard, blue floor. He gradually clambered to his feet before sweeping his eyes across the room. He softly called out, "Roxas?"

The sounds of moans and yawning came from close by. In a state of confusion and inquisitiveness, Lea's field of vision turned to face a group of four people lying across the floor. Two of them were wearing purple, guard uniforms, white gloves, and black boots while the other two had white, laboratory coats for their outfits. Recognizing the four as familiar faces, Lea muttered aloud, "…Dilan… Aeleus… Even… Ienzo… "

As he stood upright upon the floor, Lea spotted his reflection in a nearby window above a very Hi-Tech computer. Seeing that he still had his fire-colored, spiked hair and his black-hooded coat on his body, he walked up to closely examine it. To his surprise and astonishment, the green triangles that had been located beneath his eyes were gone. He softly exclaimed, "Whoa… we're _people_ again… the first several ranks of the Organization are here!"

As Aeleus and Ienzo rose from the floor, Lea noticed something seemed off. He added, "Still… where's Xehanort, Braig, and… "

His voice trailed off. Lea knew who else was unaccounted for. His friend he had always been with. "…**_Isa_**?!"

* * *

**A/N: That's that! All's well that ENDS well! Or IS it?!**

**Either way, some (or many) of you might be disappointed that Sora and the others didn't actually FIGHT Mother Gothel. Rather, I personally feel like such an event might make her somewhat out-of-character. So, I decided to make a Nightmare that SHE summoned do the work instead!**

**Anyways, I decided to give another HINT at what the next world up ahead will be.**

**HINT: "It's located on 'THE SECOND STAR TO THE RIGHT AND STRAIGHT ON TILL MORNING!'"**

**IF you believe you might know what world I'm referring to, please post your answer(s) in the REVIEWS for THIS Chapter!**

**Without further ado, PLEASE DON'T LEAVE WITHOUT REVIEWING! THE FATE OF THIS STORY DEPENDS ON IT!**

**This is SoraLego278 saying, "See Ya Later, Keybladers!"**


	8. Ch8 - An Awkward Reunion

**DISCLAIMER: I OWN NOTHING EXCEPT MY ORIGINAL CHARACTERS!**

**A/N: HEY THERE! HI THERE! HO THERE! YOU'RE AS WELCOME AS CAN BE!**

**And now, I'm sure you all are especially excited about getting to see what world is up next! Just DO NOT FORGET what I said earlier in Chapter 7! Reviews DO Matter - No Matter What!**

**Anyways, I also wanted to say that - whoever out there guessed "Never Land" based on the hint from Chapter 7 - I'll just say you're close, but still not accurate enough!**

**IF you really want to know what world it happens to actually BE, then go on! READ AND REVIEW - PLEASE!**

* * *

**CHAPTER 8  
An Awkward Reunion**

As the extensive tunnel of exquisite, serene Light came to a close, Sora, Riku, and Violet found themselves gently setting foot on firm land. For a few seconds, Sora scanned his eyes around to get acquainted with the surrounding environment. To his complete amazement, the lush, green grass his feet should've been planted upon was now nearly five times his height. The only thing he could see beyond the towering grass was an infinite blue sky. Still, the very concept of being tinier than a blade of grass caused the Keyblader to realize the hard-to-accept truth.

"We've _shrunk_!" Sora exclaimed much louder than he had anticipated. His eyes grew wide in alert and he began to take in quick breaths of air.

In turn, Riku declared, "Our clothes have changed… "

Wondering what his friend was referring to, Sora whirled around to see Riku wearing an outfit consisting of a green, leaf-like shirt and matching shorts. On the silver-haired teen's back was a set of pointed, transparent wings. As he glanced at his hands, Sora took note that his clothing had altered in the same way — except his wings were a tad smaller.

"You two resemble angels," Violet observed as she took a closer examination of the duo. "My outfit has changed, too."

It took Sora a full minute to spot the differences in Violet's appearance. The angel was still giving a violet glow, but her dress had become a violet-colored leaf-like shirt and skirt. Her clear wings had also become more pointy, though they still illuminating the same shade of violet glow. Taking this all into consideration, Riku concluded, "If our clothes changed… is this world 'special'?"

Sora crossed his arms in deep contemplation. Recalling how his clothing had transformed in various ways depending on the world he was visiting with Donald and Goofy, Sora was certain whatever had happened to their outfits most-likely was for no different reason. Unfortunately, such circumstances still failed to explain what type of form Sora and the others would convert into. For some reason, he couldn't think of a simple only to discover exactly what form he would've become. Why was that so?

As Sora uncrossed his arms, the sounds of terrifying screams filled the group's senses, making them jumping in complete shock. They immediately stared down a dirt path leading deeper into the current scenery. Riku exclaimed, "What was _that_?!"

"Whatever it was," Sora responded, attempting to shroud his anxiety from the others. "It sounded like we've got trouble."

"Let's investigate!" Violet acknowledged.

Sora and Riku gave nods of approval moments before the trio darted hurriedly down the path and towards the cause of the unidentified shouts. After proceeding down a small hill, the group arrived in a small clearing along the path. What laid before their eyes was enough to confirm the source of the shrieks.

Precisely in the center of the clearing huddled two figures. Scattered around them were the unmistakable forms of owl-shaped, snail-shaped, and even porcupine-shaped monsters. Riku identified the creatures the exact moment he caught sight of them.

"More Nightmares!" Riku stated, rapidly summoning his Keyblade to fight. He charged into the cluster of enemies and began slicing his weapon clear through a handful of snail-shaped Nightmares, eliminating them in the process.

"_I'll_ take care of 'em!" Sora announced as he summoned his Keyblade as he charged into the small group of porcupine-shaped monsters. He came to an abrupt halt in his tracks when it became apparent the enemies were swinging their spikey tails at him. Sora had to carefully time his every movement to defend himself from the advancing creatures. Stunned from the blocks, the Nightmares were quickly vanquished by a few slashes of Sora's weapon.

Though the majority of the enemies were now defeated, Sora and Riku both raised their Keyblades as the owl-shaped monsters gathering together and prepared to strike as a team. All the Keyblade wielders could do was watch as the enemies swooped closer and closer into range. When the monsters were about to launch their group attack, a tiny whirlwind formed around the creatures. In the blink of an eye, all the remaining Nightmares had been terminated.

Sora and Riku were equally baffled and mystified. Where had the miniature whirlwind come from? Taking a short look around, they spotted Violet casually hovering a few feet above their heads. The angel's crossed arms and determined facial expression instantly answered the twosome's question.

A moment later, the pair of strangers who had been cowering in the clearing stepped forwards with looks of relief. Finally able to get a close look at the two, Sora realized they were boys. One was very slender with red hair, blue eyes, and wearing dewdrop-filled goggles. The other was very large (possibly overweight) donning long, black hair and brown eyes. The only characteristic they both shared was the green, leafy clothing and a set of pointed, translucent wings on each of their backs. The two qualities the pair had in common helped Sora realize his current outfit was very similar to theirs. For all the brown-spikey teenager and his friends knew, the two boys would be able to unravel the mystery of what type of being Sora and the others had converted into.

"Thank you for coming to out aid," the red-haired boy with the goggles proclaimed with relief. "I thought we were done for!"

"_Indeed_!" the black-haired boy added. He began rubbing his hands while his head whirled back and forth in fright. "They just came out of nowhere!"

"Don't mention it!" Sora smiled, placing his hands behind his head. It wasn't uncommon for a victim to commend him for being rescued from whatever peril they had been in. Once, Donald, Goofy, and him had assisted a man named Auron to defeat their old enemy, Hades. After the battle, Auron had proposed thanking the three for their help, but Sora insisted it wasn't necessary. Thus, Auron had decided against displaying gratitude when Sora swiftly changed his mind about. In turn, Auron had said, "Thanks for meddling." All this had instigated was an immense deal of perplexity, of which Sora had yet to disclose the intention for.

"I'm Sora," Sora introduced. He gestured to his friends. "He's Riku and she's Violet."

"Phineas T. Kettletree, Esquire at your service," the red-haired boy introduced, indicating himself. "Pleased to meet your acquaintance!"

The larger boy rolled his eyes in reaction. "He's Bobble," he said, pointing at the slender boy. As he indicated himself, the larger boy added, "I'm Clank!"

Riku nodded with understanding. At the same time, Violet asked, "What are you two doing out _here_?"

"We were on our way to the Queen's Review," Bobble replied. "Those monstrosities just came out and attacked us."

"Huh?" Riku inquired, sounding a little puzzled. "What's the 'Queen's Review'?"

Bobble seemed somewhat surprised. "You see," he began. "Queen Clarion is going to review all the preparations for Spring."

"It's a good time to show what us Tinker Fairies can do," Clank verified in an abnormally calm voice. "Like _me_ — I can be a wheel!"

Though bewildered in terms of what Clank meant in regards to "being a wheel", Sora had taken much notice upon the mention of something else the two boys had spoken of. He rapidly spoke up, "Tinker Fairies?! You two are… fairies?"

Both Bobble and Clank's nods of approval confirmed it. Now Sora was speechless; he was exploring a world full of what happened to be fairies. Therefore, he was able to conclude that both Riku and him had transformed into fairies. After roughly an additional minute, Sora was about to speak until Riku beat him.

"So," Riku questioned with interest. "Where's this 'Review' taking place?"

"In Springtime Square," Bobble clarified. He pointed into the direction of where the dirt path led down into a field of yellow flowers. "It's straight through there!"

"Can we come along?" Sora eagerly asked.

"Of course!" Bobble acknowledged. "Fairies of every talent are invited to come."

With a nod of agreement, Sora joined Riku and Violet as they all accompanied Bobble and Clank to the not-too-distant Springtime Square. Sora, Riku, and Violet had arrived in the Sleeping World of **Pixie Hollow**.

* * *

As the group reached their destination, Sora took a brief moment to observe how fast the sun had set, allowing the cool of night to replace it. His eyes adjusted to the darkness in time to get a glimpse of the plaza where a crowd of fairies had been gathering. The only things he could identify in the close vicinity was a large, open plaza situated beside the waters of a vast, seemingly-endless ocean. He was beginning to wonder if anything in this world might be familiar when the sound of music filled his ears.

"It's the queen!" Bobble and Clank softly exclaimed, pointing into the sky above.

At that precise second, Riku, Sora, and Violet all gazed upward as a few sparkles of golden light soared into view over the audience. When the sparkles collided, they instantly formed a tall, slender fairy woman with light brown hair and blue eyes. She was wearing a long, twinkling pale-yellow dress and a golden tiara, and had a set of large, yellow, glittery, butterfly-shaped wings on her back. One mere glance was it took for both Riku and Sora to confirm she was the queen of the fairies.

While the queen gently flew into the area, a tall fairy man with medium-length brown hair, a leafy hat, and blue clothes came flying up to greet her. With a hint of nervous energy, he said, "Queen Clarion, Your Illustriousness! As Minister of Spring, I welcome you to Springtime Square."

After one quick look around the plaza, Queen Clarion giggled, "What? No fireworks, Minister?"

Now extremely hesitant and uncomfortable, the Minister stammered, "Um… _that_ can be arranged!"

"I'm just teasing," Queen Clarion reassured him. "You _always_ make such a fuss… and everything always turns out wonderfully."

Riku smirked a grin as he shook his head. The way Queen Clarion was treating the Minister of Spring felt very comparable to how he usually would tease Sora about Kairi. The debates his joking often produced could sometimes continue for hours or days. The time he had convinced Sora into believing Santa Clause wasn't real, his best friend had frequently attempted to persuade his belief that Santa did exist. However, Riku eventually succeeded in making Sora positive that Christmas was simply a random holiday — _for three years straight_! The outcome was an angry ten-year old Sora seeking his next opportunity to get revenge on the three years of receiving no Christmas gifts.

After a couple minutes, Riku turned his attention back to what the Minister and queen were talking about. The Minister gestured towards a closed flower on the edge of the square. He said, "…When the Everblossum blooms, we'll be ready to bring Spring to the Mainland."

"Music to my ears!" Queen Clarion affirmed. She spun to face the crowd of fairies spectating the event. "I know you've all put in months of work and preparation. Still, keep up progress these last few days, because just as fairies… "

"Queen Clarion!"

The sudden shout interrupted everyone's focus on the queen. Sora and Riku whirled their focus in the direction of where a fairy was speed-walking towards the queen. She was followed by a grey-haired mouse hauling a wagon built from a shell and acorns. As the fairy reached the queen, she asked, "Did I miss anything?"

Sora eyes squinted as he took a closer examination of the new-arriving fairy. Her slender figure, blue eyes, blonde hair in a bun, green strapless dress with mini skirt, green shoes with white pom-poms, and clear wings on her back seemed strikingly familiar to the Keyblader. He whispered aloud, "She looks familiar."

In turn, Bobble softly replied, "You _know_ her?"

When Sora shrugged, Clank spoke up, "That's Tinker Bell. She's the new Tinker Fairy."

"_**Tinker Bell**_," Sora exclaimed in a loud whisper. He was downright baffled. The very minute he had sensed something was identifiable about the world, Sora was certain whatever it could've been was probably not a recognizable face. Boy was he proven incorrect! Right before his eyes was Tinker Bell, the same fairy he had encountered after Captain Hook had taken Donald, Goofy, and him captive and Peter Pan 'agreed' to help them escape. In the process, he recalled the little fairy kicking Donald — in the face and helping Sora himself learn how to fly. "That was _her_?!"

Rather than wait for any response, Sora spun his attention back to where Tinker Bell had just been informed she hadn't missed anything. Stepping over to her wagon, Tinker Bell declared, "I've come up with some _fantastic_ things for Tinker Fairies to use when we go to the Mainland!"

A hushed gasp echoed throughout the crowd of spectators. For a moment, Riku thought he heard one fairy exclaim to another, "What's she talking about?!"

Pulling a contraption out of her wagon, Tinker Bell continued, "Let me show you. This is a flower sprayer!"

Before anyone could stop her, Tinker Bell started the device. Unfortunately, it malfunctioned entirely — spraying the Minister of Spring with purple-colored paint. At that moment, a group of musicians began playing their instruments, but one glare of the Minister's face caused them to silence it immediately. With a slight feeling of embarrassment, Tinker Bell put her invention back into the wagon. "_Whoops_," she exclaimed. "It's kind of a work in progress!"

Noticing how uncomfortable Tinker Bell was feeling, Queen Clarion spoke up, "Wait, Tinker Bell! Has no one explained?"

Puzzled and trying to stay as confident as possible, Tinker Bell smirked, "Explained what?"

"Tinker Fairies don't go to the Mainland, dear," Queen Clarion stated. "Your work is here, in Pixie Hollow. I'm sorry."

Shocked with total disbelief, Tinker Bell solemnly left the plaza with the mouse following behind. From where he stood, Sora muttered to himself, "What was that about?"

Riku paused to think of an answer. All he could make out was that the fairy Sora had recognized as Tinker Bell thought she would go to someplace called the 'Mainland'. Yet, the truth was, she wasn't supposed to go there. Without any reason to go, Riku was at a dead end. He finally said, "Good question."

For the first time in a while, Violet spoke up, "Perhaps we should talk to Tinker Bell?"

"Yeah, of course," Sora agreed. "Except… I don't know where she went."

"If you're looking for Tink," Clank said, overhearing their conversation. "You could always try Tinker's Nook."

"Aye!" Bobble added. "That's where all us Tinker Fairies are from! It's just past the meadow."

"Got it! Thanks!" Sora nodded before departing from the crowd with Riku and Violet trailing along behind.

* * *

A short while later, Sora, Riku, and Violet found themselves at a humungous ditch situated between two cliffs of dirt leading up to fields of grass. Looking around the wide, open canyon-like vicinity, the trio noticed several stick-built houses scattered about in various locations with different gizmos set-up at others. Sora took a few moments to admire one such device consisting of flower-shaped cups on a rotating string. The design strongly resembled a bucket-and-pulley system from a typical factory back on the islands.

As they continued to wander about, Riku spotted a light coming from the inside of a particular section of the area. A sign mounted above the entrance read "WORKSHOP" in large, black letters. Believing someone might be inside, Sora led the others through the entrance, only to quickly find themselves in a widespread room with mushroom-shaped tables organized in groups.

A bunch of various items were scattered about some of the tables. Picking up one such item, Violet took a second to examine what turned out to be a teapot made from an acorn. Riku picked another one, discovering it as a small, acorn-shaped bowl. The item Sora touched was had a handle with an arrowhead-shaped stone on one end. He murmured to no one in particular, "Wonder what this is?"

Observing the unknown item in Sora's hands, Riku stated, "Looks like a… hammer."

Sora nodded in agreement. All at once, the group heard someone muttering, "…Being a Tinker _stinks_!"

The three whirled their focus over to another mushroom-shaped table higher in the room. Leaning over it was the unmistakable figure of Tinker Bell herself. Recalling their desire to figure out what was going on, Sora, Riku, and Violet flew up to her. Ironically, Sora and Riku found flying easier than expected. It almost felt natural to them.

As they approached the table, Tinker Bell caught a glimpse of them in her peripheral vision. She sighed, "Go ahead and laugh. My inventions _never_ work!"

"_Laugh_?!" Sora exclaimed rather awkwardly. "We're not here to laugh, Tinker Bell!"

As soon as the words registered in her head, Tinker Bell's eyes lit up in astonishment. She barely was about to say, "You… you know my name? Have we met?"

Sora was taken aback. How did Tinker Bell not recognize him? He clarified, "Tinker Bell, it's me — _Sora_! Don't you remember _me_?!"

Tinker Bell shook her head in return; that was all Sora needed to see. Rather than explain why, Tinker Bell turned to face Riku and Violet. She asked, "Who're you?"

"Riku." Riku replied.

"I'm Violet." Violet introduced.

After a few moments, Tinker Bell turned back to Sora. "Look guys," she calmly explained with a smile. "I'm kind of in the middle of a problem and would rather be alone."

When Tinker Bell turned back to her table, Sora blurted, "How do you not remember me? We're friends!"

At the mention of 'friends', Tinker Bell spun back to face Sora. She stated as clearly as she could, "How can we be friends? I'm the new girl!"

Sora paused for a minute, trying to figure out how to respond to this. At that moment, he had a flashback, which answered his current question. He softly muttered, "Oh yeah!"

* * *

_As he looked at Sora and Riku directly, Master Yen Sid continued, "Keep in mind, in the Sleeping Worlds, real time does not flow. Unless someone restores the world from its slumber, it will remain locked in a dream — forever. Hence, you may encounter familiar faces, but they are just figments of the dreams. In actuality, they are sound asleep — trapped within a world that is also sleeping. Furthermore, while someone may no longer dwell in the real version of a world, dreams may paint a fuller picture."_

_As Sora and Riku nodded in acknowledgement, Yen Sid added, "Remember, be **vigilant**!"_

* * *

"The _real_ Tinker Bell isn't supposed to be trapped in this world," Sora realized as the flashback ended. "The dream world must be putting her back where she belongs. I don't get it."

"Huh?!" Tinker Bell exclaimed, causing Sora to snap back into reality. With a smirked grin, Sora added, "It's very nice to meet you, Tinker Bell!"

Out of the corner of his eye, Sora thought he saw Riku and Violet nodding at one another. Though he didn't blush, Sora was feeling humiliated.

"Maybe you three could help me switch my talent!" Tinker Bell suddenly exclaimed, much to everyone else's surprise.

"How would you 'switch a talent'?" Riku inquired.

"Don't worry about a thing," Tinker Bell reassured. "My friends will help; I just know it."

Sora paused in consideration for a brief minute. "I guess it's worth a try," he finally concluded. Deep down inside, he wasn't so sure it was the best option — even if the others did.

* * *

_It was late at night in the forest when the faint laugh of a newborn infant echoed through the trees. A series of flowers popped open with residing fairies peering out in curiosity. Just as they had been anticipating, a small, white dandelion seed was floating around nearby. While many of the fairies quickly gathered at an enormous, crooked tree in the center of the vicinity, one particular fairy with long, black hair and fast-moving wings carefully guided the seed in the direction of the tree._

_Once the seed arrived at the tree, it gently landed upon a smooth, naturally-made platform with its petals allowing a soft descent and impact. As a sprinkle of golden pixie dust was poured upon the seed, it instantly transformed into a small, golden-haired fairy girl wearing a white dress. As the newly-born fairy glanced around at the surrounding spectators, she heard many of them saying the exact same thing. In turn, she spoke her first word, "Hello… "_

_At that moment, a few sparkles of light flew over and colliding — transforming into a large, golden fairy woman; Queen Clarion. The queen declared, "Born of laughter, clothed in cheer; **happiness **has brought you here. Welcome to Pixie Hollow! I trust you found your way all right?"_

_The fairy girl smiled shyly. "I… think so."_

_Queen Clarion giggled before helped the new fairy take her first flight. As the fairy's first flight came to a close, several mushroom-shaped platforms appeared around her, forming a circle. On cue, several fairies soared over and placed a variety of items — one upon each platform. As each of the fairies left, the new fairy glanced around at each item with a feeling of utter perplexity. She questioned, "What… what are these things?"_

_"They will help you find your talent," Queen Clarion answered._

_The new fairy wasn't completely confident. She hesitated, "But… **how**_ _will I know which one is… "_

_"You'll know," Queen Clarion encouraged._

_Thus, the new fairy approached the first item, a flower. After one touch, the item stopped glowing. Worried she had made a mistake, the new fairy looked to the queen for help. After being reassured, the new fairy continued next by trying a drop of water and a column of swirling wind — each resulting with their glow fading away._

_Finally, when she neared a hammer-like item, the new fairy ignored it as though it meant nothing and proceeded onwards. At that point, the hammer rose into the air and headed straight for her. Amazed, the new fairy cautiously accepted the hammer, which suddenly glowed with such brilliance you could clearly call it a duplicate of the sun's light. As the glow gradually decreased away, the crowd of fairies around cheered and applauded._

_The platforms all vanished away and Queen Clarion gestured towards the new fairy. "Come forward, Tinker Fairies," She called out happily. "And welcome the **newest **member of your talent guild — **Tinker Bell**!"_

* * *

**A/N: I ended with a FLASHBACK! Quite a surprise, huh? I had to point that out in case you were wondering...**

**As you all can clearly see, this world happens to be _PIXIE HOLLOW_, based upon the Disney movie, _Tinker Bell (2008)_. Personally, I've gotten tired of waiting to see someone insert this particular world into a KH story, so I decided to do it myself.**

**Also, in case many of you are wondering, I wrote the ENTIRE section of _TANGLED_ all from MEMORY! Talk about recollection! I'll try to do that as much as possible since it helps me picture the scenes better and better - which makes my writing better and better, too.**

**Last, but not least, PLEASE DON'T LEAVE WITHOUT REVIEWING! THE FATE OF THIS STORY DEPENDS ON IT!**

**This is SoraLego278 saying, "See Ya Later, Keybladers!"**


	9. Ch9 - Dewdrops OR Sunlight

**DISCLAIMER: I OWN NOTHING EXCEPT MY ORIGINAL CHARACTERS!**

**A/N: Since I'm in such a cheerful mood, I'd like to do a little something special...**

**DID YOU KNOW? Walt Disney's favorite childhood story was _Peter Pan_? Originally, he wanted it to be his second animated film - right after he made _Snow White and the Seven Dwarves_. Yet, _Pinocchio_ took its place due to Copyright Law issues.**

**THERE YOU ARE! A SPECIAL PIECE OF TRIVIA!**

**Speaking of Peter Pan, 'LET'S CATCH UP WITH TINKER BELL (AND SORA & RIKU & VIOLET) RIGHT NOW!'**

* * *

**CHAPTER 9  
Dewdrops OR Sunlight**

The sun was quickly ascending in the bright, azure sky as the rays of its morning warmth flooded the scenery composing the picturesque landscape below. At the moment, a group of fairies were patiently awaiting their turns for the daily-sprinkle of pixie dust. Although they were friends, each of their talents were unique — clearly noticeable upon their individual attires.

One of the fairies had long black hair, brown eyes, and clear wings with a blue lily-resembling dress and blue shoes. She was a Water Fairy; Silvermist. The next fairy had shoulder-length red hair, green eyes, and clear wings. Her rose-petal dress and red shoes revealed her identity as a Garden Fairy named Rosetta. The third fairy was wearing a sunflower-petal dress and yellow shoes. Unlike the others, she had dark skin, black hair, brown eyes, and clear wings. She was a Light Fairy; Iridessa. The fourth and final fairy was bearing long, braided, light-brown hair, amber eyes, and clear wings. Her clothing consisted of an orange and brown dress with orange-yellow shoes on her feet. Her name was Fawn; an Animal Fairy.

Though they were merely chitchatting away about something or other, not a single one of them was prepared when someone swooped swiftly over to them in a minor gust of wind. With a cheerful expression, the new arrival called out, "Morning girls!"

"_Tinker Bell_?!" the four fairies exclaimed the instant they realized who had zoomed into the area. Before they could react any further, the forms of Sora, Riku, and Violet flew into the vicinity.

Unlike Sora and Violet, Riku looked exhausted; his eyes were drooping a little and he gave the occasional yawn. He knew this was most-certainly the result of the night before. While everyone had spent the previous night at Tinker Bell's house, Sora had unprecedentedly taken the opportunity to inspect each item in the home. The sounds of clattering, banging, and stomping among others had continued well into the middle of the night. Even after his friend had finally gone to sleep, Riku's head relentlessly echoed with the noises Sora had previously produced. The final outcome was a severe lack of rest and relaxation. The only one he could point the finger at for such an inconvenience was the Keyblader named Sora.

As Tinker Bell hastily introduced her four friends to Sora and the others, Violet took note of how hyper the former was behaving. Tinker Bell's voice was filled to the maximum with excitement; her arms were swaying this way and that, and her face was brighter than the sunlight illuminating the surrounding terrain.

All the angel thought of doing in response was a simple shake of her head. This felt no different than how she had witnessed Sora reacting in unstipulated environments. Even while reconnoitering through the previous world, Sora had perpetually been acting without preparing ahead of schedule — often with disastrous consequences. For instance, Sora had scurried straight for Rapunzel's tower while the very concept of seeing the secluded tower in such a hidden location had given the possibility of being abandoned. Nevertheless, Sora automatically ventured inside the structure, though the final outcome was an expansive adventure with Rapunzel and Flynn Rider — Eugene Fitzherbert.

"Guess what," Tinker Bell enthusiastically proclaimed the very moment she completed the introductions. "I've decided _not_ to be a Tinker Fairy anymore!"

This brought out a gasp of bafflement from the others as they gathered around Tinker Bell. The latter continued, "Who says I have to be a 'Tinker'? Maybe I can just _switch_ my talent!"

"Switch your talent," Rosetta remarked in a Southern-style accent. "I don't know, Tinker Bell."

Viewing from where he stood, Sora got the impulsive urge to speak. "If Tink can handle nature," he broke in, drawing over everyone's attention. "She could go to the Mainland, right?"

"Oh, Tinker Bell," Rosetta sighed with a roll of her eyes. "That's just not how it works."

"It might be possible," Riku commented. His eyes were finally on the verge of waking up fully. "She could try."

"That's right! She _could_!" Silvermist cheerfully exclaimed.

For a brief second, Iridessa paused in thought before she spoke. "Well… I've never heard of anyone switching talents before."

"That's right," chimed in an optimistic Silvermist. "Me **_neither_**!"

All this reaction did was encourage Sora to confidentially snicker. This was definitely how his friend, Goofy, would've been responding. All he allowed himself to do was shake his head, though he presumed it would've provoked Donald into rolling his eyeballs in disbelief. Talk about ironic!

"Look guys," Tinker Bell finally spoke up. "You all can do things that are so beautiful and… and magical, but me… "

Her voice trailed off, leaving everyone else pondering intensely. After about a minute, Tinker Bell sighed. "…There's got to be _more_ to my life than just… pots and kettles," she specified. With tears slowly forming in her eyes, she finished, "All I'm asking is you give me a chance."

Several minutes of unbearable silence immediately followed. To Sora, however, it felt like several months had flown past when Silvermist smiled, strode up to Tinker Bell, and said, "I'll help you, Tinker Bell."

Tinker Bell smiled with gratefulness. "**_Thank you_**, Sil!"

As Fawn and Rosetta agreed in turn, Sora placed his hands behind his head. With the large grin upon his face, the Keyblade wielder declared, "Riku, Violet, and I will help, too!"

"We _will_?!" Violet exclaimed instantly after what Sora had said registered within her ears. The reply came in record time when Sora nodded in confirmation; Riku did the same. While still questioning their motives for willing to assist at a mere second's notice, the angel speedily chose to tag along anyway.

"Well," Iridessa hesitantly sputtered. "I still think this is a bad idea."

* * *

The sun had just completed its journey of reaching the highest point in the endless, blue sky. Still, Sora, Riku, and Violet hadn't taken the time to admire it. In fact, they were currently gliding smoothly over a large, wide stream cutting through the scenery consisting of a region the fairies commonly referred to as Summer Glade. Since Silvermist had been the first to agree to aid Tinker Bell with changing her talent, the former had been chosen to demonstrate her talent — as a Water Fairy — first. Not wishing to miss such an experience, Rosetta, Iridessa, and Fawn had all volunteered to cheer for her success.

As he looked down into the steadily-flowing water below, Sora took note of how the brook resembled the surface far above the undersea kingdom of _**Atlantica**_. Although swimming to the surface of the sea had been forbidden, a mermaid named Ariel had willingly taken the risk of venturing to it. The only one who appeared to be helpful in the least, little bit happened to be the sea witch, Ursula. Fortunately, Sora had been in the vicinity at the correct time to bring the villainess's plot with the Heartless to an abrupt incompletion.

When he suddenly remembered how Ursula had mysteriously emerged out of the ocean back on the islands, Sora's mind quickly transferred over to pondering about why the sea witch had spontaneously appeared directly where they had been sailing on the raft. Did she somehow learn of their presence there? If so, how would she have discovered such restricted knowledge? For that matter, how had she managed to venture into a separate world from her own?

Such questions were probably going to remain unanswered, unless… the mysterious figure in the black-hooded cloak of the former Organization XIII was behind it all. Yet, what was his motive? What did he wish to achieve by abducting members of the Cybersquad? Why had he muttered about Sora's heart possibly having been converted into a prison? Even more peculiar, why did he spontaneous show up at random intervals? For that matter, when would he emerge next? Where would they confront him when that time arrived? On top of everything else, when, where, and how would they learn the answers to all these questions upon any additional ones they hadn't created yet?

"Sora? Are you okay?" Riku asked when he noticed how deep in thought his friend was. Instantly in turn, Sora snapped back to reality. When he realized Riku had asked the query, Sora immediately replied, "Yeah… I'm okay."

Deep, down inside, Sora wasn't so confident. The entire concept of the mysterious stranger formulating some type of trap for the Keyblade wielders remained hidden elsewhere within his mind. If anything, he simply refused to believe such an event could take place.

"So," Silvermist spoke up, removing Sora for any further contemplation. "For your first day of Water Fairy training, I could teach you how to make ripples in the pond."

Thrilled to try something different, Tinker Bell replied, "That sounds fun!"

All of a sudden, Silvermist's face lit up with great excitement. "Wait, wait, wait! I got it! I got it! **_I got it_**!"

Watching zealously with everyone else, Riku kept his field of vision locked upon the fairy as she zoomed up and straight to a large, sticky spider-web. One look and the Keyblader was certain the web had been abandoned some time ago. He listened intently as Silvermist declared, "Dewdrops on spider webs!"

Although he was feeling a little puzzled about how water droplets could be situated on webs, Riku curiously followed along with Sora as the two joined Silvermist and Tinker Bell at the edge of a lush, green lily-pad floating gently in the stream.

On a nearby lily-pad sporting a large, white-pink blossom, Violet was observing the scene with Rosetta, Fawn, and Iridessa. Not wishing to be drenched in water, the angel had insisted on just spectating the whole sequence from a distance. Though she kept such information confidential, she preferred for no one to ever learn how her wings wouldn't be capable of flying if they got wet. Sure, when they dried off, flying was possible, but as far as she was concerned, who'd ever heard of an angel being unable to fly? All this had encouraged her decision of not getting involved with the liquid of the creek around.

"Watch carefully," Silvermist taught. "You cup your hands together… reach into the water… and… "

As the others watched, Silvermist scooped her hands naturally into the stream. When they resurfaced, she was clutching a decent-sized droplet of liquid. Both Sora and Riku did the same, and produced individual droplets of their own. As she began to flutter away in the air above, Silvermist turned to face her trainees. With a loud voice, she proclaimed, "Okay! You've heard of a dewdrop? This is a '_don't_ drop'!"

For a brief minute, everyone simply stared in anticipation of learning what they were expected to do next. Noticing this, Silvermist clarified, "That's Water Fairy humor."

"It's good!" Tinker Bell remarked. However, both Sora and Riku glanced at one another with perplexity on their faces. Together, they shrugged it off and quickly flew after both Silvermist and Tinker Bell; the latters were now gathered at the spider web.

When they arrived at the web, Silvermist instructed them, "Now, this is the tricky part!"

She carefully moved her water droplet across the sticky lines of the web. "It takes a very, delicate hand to… "

She stopped the instant her droplet was gone. In its place was a chain of water droplets positioned along the complete length of the web strand. Attempting to be the quick learner he believed he was, Sora swiftly tried to mimic the exact method Silvermist had used. After his droplet had been used up, he whirled around to seize an overall view of what he had accomplished. Sora was shocked; his droplet had formed a chain of water droplets all right, but the chain had seemingly gotten separated into three _distinct_ strings on the same thread of web.

One glance at Sora's work, and Riku immediately shook his head in amusement. It was so like Sora to randomly leap into something brand unfamiliar without taking the time to proceed with caution. Rather than do the same as his friend, Riku chose to move slower and carefully positioned his dewdrop onto the web. When he took a look of his own, Riku noticed his droplets of water were much _bigger_ than Silvermist had made hers. He crossed his arms and turned away when Sora gave a smirked grin.

Finally turning to Tinker Bell, Silvermist took one, short look before asking, "Um… where's your dewdrop?"

Slightly uneasy for a moment, Tinker Bell smiled before swooping back to the lily-pad they had started at. As she passed the four spectators, the fairy explained, "Forgot my dewdrop!"

When she reached the lily-pad, Tinker Bell scooped her hands into the water and brought them out — a dewdrop right in her grasp. Excited, she exclaimed, "Hey! I _did_ it!"

At that precise moment, the droplet of liquid water exploded in the palms of her hands. Distraught by this sudden occurrence, Tinker Bell seemed a little discouraged.

"Shake that one off!" Silvermist persuaded aloud. "You can do this!"

"Yeah!" Riku added in turn. "Keep it up!"

Agreeing to redo from her mistake, Tinker Bell retrieved a second dewdrop and slowly began fluttering her way towards the web. From the spider web, Sora shouted, "You're doing great!"

As if on cue, the dewdrop burst into liquid water after the words had escaped Sora's lips. With a hint of frustration, Tinker Bell hurried to grab a third dewdrop. From the lily-pad, Violet was still watching onward with the others. For some unknown cause, every one of Tinker Bell's dewdrops were exploding before she could reach the web. The result was a growing amount of frustration building from deep within the fairy. In fact, as another dewdrop exploded in Tinker Bell's hands, Iridessa muttered, "You _do_ have to admire her persistence!"

"Yeah," Rosetta approved in return. "Still, sometimes hammers _might_ glow for a reason."

Violet simply shrugged in turn, not sure how to respond.

At that exact second, Tinker Bell scooped up what could very well have been the twentieth dewdrop. In a state of total vexation, she hurled the droplet into the air. Everyone stared in amazement as the water droplet rammed straight into the web. While Sora, Riku, and Silvermist had narrowly managed to flit out of harm's way, the droplet slammed into the web with such force it absorbed all the other water droplets upon it. Like a catapult, the spider web launched the gigantic sphere of water into the air. It took less than an instant for the enormous sphere to make impact — directly on the lily-pad where the group of observers had collected.

As they hurried over to ensure everyone was not injured, Silvermist turned to Tinker Bell and said, "Y'know, you always struck me as a '**_Light_** Fairy' kind of gal!"

Although she was astounded by this comment, Iridessa was too soaked with water to answer. Lying next to her was the drenched Angel of Dreams; Violet sighed, knowing her wings had gotten dripping and would require quite some time to dry out.

* * *

After waiting impatiently for nearly two hours for the wings of Iridessa, Rosetta, Fawn, and Violet to dry off, Sora Riku, Silvermist, and Tinker Bell joined them as Iridessa had been picked to demonstrate her talent with light. Even though Iridessa was still feeling uncomfortable about the whole idea of assisting in Tinker Bell's 'talent-switch', she had reluctantly agreed to at least assist Tinker Bell attempt at something.

Thus, the whole group had journeyed into a field of golden-yellow sunflowers not a fierce distance from the location of Springtime Square. Wanting to strive for success in this particular challenge, Violet accompanied Sora and Tinker Bell as they flew into the sky above with Iridessa. Riku had volunteered to observe from a nearby sunflower along with Fawn, Silvermist, and Rosetta.

As they flew into view of the sunbeams, Iridessa called out, "Look! The last light of day! It's the richest kind of all!"

Flapping directly into the beams, Iridessa reached out and snatched a clump of sunlight. At the same time, Sora reached out, but failed to retrieve a piece of light; he was surprised to notice Violet's hands carrying a ball of the sunlight instead. Having witnessed the others take their turns, Tinker Bell reached out and grabbed into the sunlight. When she looked again, her palms were empty. Though puzzled how this had taken place, Iridessa handed her a cup molded from green leaves, placing her clump of light into it. In turn, Violet inserted her own ball into a second leave-shaped cup in Sora's clutches. Astonished at the very sight of viewing into the cup of warm, soothing light, Tinker Bell exclaimed, "It's _incredible_!"

"_Yeah_!" Sora acknowledged as he took a glimpse of his own. He instantly turned away, fearing his eyesight would most-certainly be damaged by staring directly into the sunlight.

In a voice filled with excitement, Iridessa spoke up, "And now for the fun part!"

* * *

From where they sat upon the sunflower, Riku inquired the others, "Think that's too heavy for Sora?"

"No," Silvermist calmly replied. "It's **_light_**!"

"Duh!" Fawn teased, forcing Riku to cross his arms and look elsewhere. His eyes coincidentally happened to fall on a nearly-finished-setting-sky. Night was already emerging upon the scenery of the encircling landscape.

* * *

Hovering directly above a patch of shadow-covered grass, Iridessa gave a loud whistle. On cue, a cluster of small insects appeared out of the shadows and grouped in front of her. For roughly a minute, Sora was starting to wonder what type of creatures the insects were. The next minute, Iridessa had pulled a handful of the brilliant light from Tinker Bell's cup and happily tossed it into the air. As the sunlight broke into various pieces, the insects hurried over and caught each and every glimmer of light upon their now-glowing backs. Sora was speechless; these were no miscellaneous insects — they were _fireflies_.

After Violet had successfully gotten a few more fireflies lit, both Sora and Tinker Bell took notice of the anticipating swarm waiting to receive their own lights. In response, both Sora and Tinker Bell reached deep into their cups and threw the light into the air. Well, at least they had assumed the sunlight had been thrown. Unfortunately, nothing had happened. Mystified, the duo tried over and over to grasp the light within their cups — with _no_ success. However, the harder they attempted, the more desperate they became since not a single clump of sunlight was gathering in their hands.

"Tinker Bell! Sora!" Iridessa and Violet exclaimed, urgently trying to reassure the two. Unable to get anything out, Tinker Bell threw her cup onto the ground. She snapped, "This is **_impossible_**!"

What occurred next was probably the least-likely thing Sora would ever have expected happen to Tinker Bell. First, the cup of sunlight collided with the ground, sending two beams of light hurtling into the sky. One beam vanished from plain sight while the other bounced off a nearby sunflower stem and sped straight through where Iridessa, Violet, Sora, and Tinker Bell were hovering.

After a few more bounces, Tinker Bell let out a yelp of alarm. Both bewildered and befuddled, the group glanced around, only to instantly realize the beam of sunlight had collided upon Tinker Bell's behind. As it glowed, Sora covered his mouth to contain his otherwise uncontrollable laughter. From the Keyblade wielder's viewpoint, Tinker Bell seemed to be a firefly herself. When the swarm of unlit fireflies spotted this, they all smiled in anticipation of seizing the light for themselves. Therefore, Tinker Bell immediately took off flying as fast as her wings could manage with the fireflies about to give pursuit. Seconds before the insects could follow, a small group of owl-shaped creatures spontaneously appeared, scaring the fireflies away before giving chase after the now-terror-stricken-face of Tinker Bell.

Noticing the atypical creatures, Sora exclaimed, "Here _too_?!"

As he summoned his Keyblade, Violet declared, "Those are Nightmares after Tinker Bell!"

"Let's get 'em! _C'mon_!" Sora shouted as he flew off with Violet and Iridessa following in turn.

* * *

Riku was beginning to feel extremely bored when a screaming fairy flew past the sunflower all he could see was a blurred image. Directly behind was a swarm of monsters he didn't recognize as they appeared in a blur, too. It wasn't until Sora, Violet, and Iridessa came flying into view that Riku realized Tinker Bell had been the one screaming past. Furthermore, he noticed how Sora was already holding his Keyblade; this definitely meant the monsters were enemies.

Fluttering along, Iridessa shouted, "Fly, Tinker Bell! **_Fly_**!"

"Uh-oh!" Rosetta exclaimed, noticing the full event unfolding before their eyes. In reaction to Sora's determination, Riku summoned his own Keyblade before following in pursuit, too. At the same time, Fawn, Rosetta, and Silvermist flew behind, urgently checking to ensure Tinker Bell was okay.

"We'll save you, Tinker Bell!" Sora called out.

"Dodge and **_weave_**!" Violet asserted.

All Riku could say was, "Cover the light **_behind_ **you!"

Nevertheless, Sora, Riku, and Violet all knew this turn-of-events was yet to reach its closure.

* * *

**A/N: THE CHASE HAS BEGUN...! DUN-DUN-DUUUUUNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN!**

**Anyway, you get the picture. Come next chapter, we'll most-likely learn what the outcome of the previous event was.**

**Until then, PLEASE DON'T LEAVE WITHOUT REVIEWING! THE FATE OF THIS STORY DEPENDS ON IT!**

**This is SoraLego278 saying, "See Ya Later, Keybladers!"**


	10. Ch10 - From Bad To Worse

**DISCLAIMER: I OWN NOTHING EXCEPT MY ORIGINAL CHARACTERS!**

**A/N: You don't have to tell me... I ALREADY know I'm late. I was planning to have this chapter up late, last night, but I fell behind with writing it.**

**In case any of you are wondering why I fell behind, let's just say I've been playing _Kingdom Hearts: Birth By__ Sleep_ for the first time in ages - and on CRITICAL MODE, too! Now that I've almost obtained EVERY ABILITY on Terra's story, I'm feeling quite confident I'll be able to finish the game nearly to the maximum I can. After all, I'm doing the full game from the very beginning once more.**

**Anyway, enough chit-chat with what I've been doing lately! It's time for another chapter in the world of _PIXIE HOLLOW_.**

**Let's SOAR OFF TO TINKER BELL'S WORLD!**

* * *

**CHAPTER 10  
****From Bad To Worse**

The sun was just beginning its cycle the following morning as its rays calmly protruded through the blades of grass at the tops of the cliffs surrounding a hidden valley known as Tinker's Nook. As the lights were coming to life within each of the different residential houses of each individual Tinker Fairy, Sora, Riku, and Violet had previously gathered at the Workshop with Tinker Bell, Bobble, and Clank. Although the three Tinker Fairies were intended to be busily working away, the only ones hard-at-work were Bobble and Clank. Not to mention, they were cheerfully chanting aloud together.

"_We're preparing for Spring_," Bobble chanted.

Clank added, "_We do all this and __**more**_!"

"_Yes_," they vocalized in unison. "_Being a Tinker is __**never**__ a bore_!"

All Sora, Riku, and Violet were doing was sitting together at a deserted mushroom-shaped table to the left of where Tinker Bell was situated. One glance at his friend and Sora was certain the Nightmare-incident had significantly dispirited Tinker Bell. Instead of singing along with the pair of boys, she was slouched upon her own table, gradually placing acorn-like lids onto the covers of matching acorn-resembling teapots. Her face showed hints of absolute boredom and developing irritability.

After a few more minutes of complete, overwhelming silence, a voice called out, "Tinker Bell! I'd like a word with you!"

To everyone's surprise — especially Sora's bafflement — a large fairy woman wearing a dress-like outfit made from green leaves, auburn hair in a bun, amber eyes, and clear wings came marching directly to Tinker Bell's table. The instant she saw the fairy woman, Tinker Bell hopped to her feet. Slightly startled, she exclaimed, "Fairy Mary!"

Sora took a swift second to realize the fairy woman appeared to be somewhat of an employer for the Tinker Fairies. If that was the case, she was more-than-likely aligned with whatever role Queen Clarion played in this particular world.

"I was out late on my deliveries… " Tinker Bell began assembling a lengthy list of excuses, though Sora knew for certain they were all fallacies. In truth, he and Riku had barely managed to prevent those owl-shaped Nightmares from dealing any harm to Tinker Bell after the latest attempt to control light had miserably resulted in utter failure. Fortunately, the enemies had been decimated after a few slashes from Sora and Riku's super-quick movements with their Keyblades. Thus, Tinker Bell had not only been saved from possible injuries, but had also succeeded in swooping out of harm's way extremely effectively.

"Save it! I know what you've been up to, _missy_!" Fairy Mary scowled, interrupting Tinker Bell's speech and breaking Sora's moments of recollection. After a brief minute, the fairy woman sadly continued, "…And I had such high hopes for you!"

After Fairy Mary had flown off elsewhere, both Bobble and Clank paused what they were doing. Bobble spoke up, "You'd do well to listen, Tink."

"Why?!" Tinker Bell retaliated. She picked up one of the acorn-designed teapots. "So I can do _this_ my whole life?! I don't want to be a… a _stupid __**Tinker**_!"

Sora's ears perked up the exact second the words had escaped Tinker Bell's lips. He was speechless; how could she ever say such a _terrible_ thing?! He noticed Bobble and Clank showing immediate indication of shock and hurt feelings. Tinker Bell rapidly realized what she had spoken and sputtered, "…Guys, I didn't mean… I wasn't _trying_ to… "

It was too late. The damage had already been done. Nothing else she could say would restore everything to how it once was. Discouraged by this unfortunate impact she had placed on her friends, Tinker Bell sighed deeply. "I have to go," she muttered.

As Tinker Bell flew away from the Workshop, Sora, Riku, and Violet silently followed. After the events of the previous night, they had chosen to remain silent since they were still feeling a tad bit exhausted.

* * *

By the time the sun was approaching its pinnacle of High-Noon, Sora and the others had ventured with Tinker Bell to a section of the tree-tops within a forest of evergreen trees located a short distance from the site of Tinker's Nook.

While the four flew through the open air, Riku caught a glimpse of a pair of unusually-shaped pinecones carefully placed at the peaks of two of the shrubbery's tallest trees. Since the group was fluttering past at a slower pace, the Keyblader took the opportunity to watch closely as he thought he detected movement coming from within the pinecones. As his eyes focused in further, Riku realized he had spotted two fairy boys — one standing inside each pinecone. Noticing the pair of boy fairies carefully scanning their eyes across the encircling landscape, the silver-haired teenager began to ponder over whether or not they were meant to resemble lookouts. If they happened to be special-assigned lookouts, whatever would they be looking-out for?

His train of thought came to an abrupt close when the group arrived at a medium-sized nest crafted from small, tiny twigs. Within the nest was a trio of young, bluish-white birds. Hovering just beyond the nest was who Tinker Bell had travelled to see — the Animal Fairy, Fawn.

A few moments before the four reached the nest, Fawn had somehow helped one of the three birds take flight and head off for destinations unknown. As they approached, Fawn turned to greet the group with a large smile upon her face. Noticing Tinker Bell's hesitation, Fawn said, "Sure you're up for this?"

"A little _nervous_… actually." Tinker Bell admitted shyly. This reaction resulted in Riku's elbow bumping Sora's shoulder with a hint of mockery. In turn, Sora rubbed his shoulder with a stare of disapproval at his best friend. All Violet did was shake her head in amusement.

"Aw, you'll do fine," Fawn soothed, doing her best to reassure the group. "I'm teaching baby birds how to fly!"

"_Cool_!" Sora blurted enthusiastically. He quickly realized what he had spoken out loud when Riku, Violet, Tinker Bell, and Fawn stared straight at him in confusion. This made Sora cross his arms and look downwards.

"I'll show you what to do," Fawn began, petting the bird before her. "First, you smile… and establish _trust_!"

Just after, Fawn continued showing each and every step involved with aiding the bird with taking its maiden flight. Due to the lengthy list of the step-by-step process they were learning, Sora found himself yawning from time-to-time.

Finally the bird was able to depart from the nest, though any eyewitnesses would have taken into account of how much difficulty the creature was having flapping its wings fast enough to remain aloft. Thus, Fawn had informed her four "students" she would have to tag along to ensure it could master its ability to soar without any assistance. Immediately before she left with the bird, Fawn instructed the group, "Why don't you help the last guy?"

After Fawn had disappeared from view, Tinker Bell, Sora, Riku, and Violet whirled their attention into the nest. Directly inside was a little bird; its face showed possible fright. Uncertain this was such a good idea, Sora instantly decided to sit the activity out. Whenever it came to wild animals, there usually was no one more uneasy about how to handle them than Sora himself. Even Kairi was aware of this normally-hidden piece of trivia. To keep his distance, Sora situated himself upon one of the other branches a few feet above where the nest was set. He already knew he would have to ability to witness the whole event occur below without getting mixed into it.

* * *

With a deep sigh, Tinker Bell turned to Riku and Violet. "Okay," the fairy began. "We'll smile and establish… trust."

"Yeah," Riku affirmed. "That's what Fawn said."

"Okay!" Violet added in tune.

With that out of the way, Tinker Bell speedily spun to face the little bird in the nest. With a great, big smile, she proclaimed, "Hi there!"

As he watched with Violet, Riku instantly took note of how terrified Tinker Bell had inadvertently made the young bird feel. To make matters worse, the poor animal attempted to avoid Tinker Bell's hands anyway possible. All this resulted in was Tinker Bell getting flustered. Finally, she was able to get a decent hold on the creature, but the bird continuously pecked at her hands. All Riku could do was simply shake his head and smile.

* * *

From the branch above, Sora watched eagerly with amusement as Tinker Bell bounced about in the nest. No matter how desperately she tried to seize the bird, the latter would still manage to escape from her grasp. As he was beginning to laugh harder and harder, Sora overheard someone call, "Look at _this_!"

Spinning his head around to learn who had spoken, Sora quickly took into account the entertained expressions of the two lookouts witnessing the event from their pinecone-shaped posts.

All Sora did was give a shake of his head before turning back to what Tinker Bell was doing.

* * *

"All right," Tinker Bell finally shouted. "I am letting go!"

To Riku's surprise, the little bird immediately leaped from Tinker Bell's hands and landed upon a pile of egg pieces. With lightning-swift movements, the bird reassembled the fragments back into its eggshell and shut itself inside. With a deep groan, Tinker Bell sighed, "This is not working!"

"Maybe I could try?" Violet offered. The angel's suggestion rapidly fell onto deaf ears as Tinker Bell had stared straight up into the sky above. She swiftly took off into the air above, leaving a puzzled Riku and Violet waiting from the nest.

Looking upwards, Riku noticed a gigantic, bird-like shape hovering in the deep, blue sky far above the tree-tops. Although he was starting to question what it was, the Keyblade wielder watched as Tinker Bell swooped right at it. With a wave of her arms, the fairy called out, "Hey, up there!"

The only response was from neither the bird-like shape or Tinker Bell. The very minute it entered his ears, Riku froze; he knew what it meant.

"_**HAWK**_!"

* * *

The instant the shout from the lookout had registered inside his ears, Sora knew Tinker Bell was in grave danger. It wasn't the siren-resembling horns the lookouts were blowing, the blurred sight of the scurrying fairies heading for shelter down below, or even the automatic impulse to hastily seek a hiding place that confirmed his beliefs. Instead, it happened to be the sight of Tinker Bell speedily fleeing for anyplace she could duck inside for shelter with the hawk pursuing along behind.

However, one look at the hawk and Sora was certain there was something strange about it. When he saw its wings were yellow, its beak and claws were red, and its tail was orange, the Keyblade wielder immediately recognized the creature's true identity. With a loud voice, the words escaped his lips.

"A _**Nightmare**_," he exclaimed, staggering in surprise. "It's a big one, too!"

"Sora!" Riku's voice yelled, drawing Sora over to face the nest with both Riku and Violet within.

"We have to save Tinker Bell!" Violet insisted.

"Right," Sora acknowledged, summoning his Keyblade. "Let's do this!"

Nodding in return, Riku summoned his own Keyblade while Violet pounded her left fist into the palm of her right hand. Without a moment to waste, the three sped after the hawk-shaped Nightmare and the terror-stricken Tinker Bell.

Fortunately, it didn't take long for the group to reach another tree where the hawk-shaped monster was about to attack a pair of fairies trapped on the end of a branch. A moment later, the three identified one of the two fairies as Tinker Bell herself.

Yet, the other fairy was still a complete stranger to them. Perhaps it was her purple vest with those pink feathers, matching pants and ballet shoes, long-black, ponytailed hair, gray eyes, and large, clear wings that stood out to Riku. Based on this appearance, he assumed there was a chance this other fairy might have been allied with the Darkness before. Still, who was she?

"Tinker Bell," the unfamiliar fairy growled. "_If_ we get out of this alive, I'll… "

"Tinker Bell! Watch out!" Sora declared, interrupting the other fairy. At that exact moment, Sora, Riku, and Violet set foot upon the branch between where the hawk-like enemy was perched and where both Tinker Bell and the other fairy were located.

"Try us!" Sora snarled at the Nightmare above. He pointed his Keyblade directly at the monster — its blade reflecting off the High-Noon sun.

"What's _that_?!" the fairy cowering with Tinker Bell exclaimed in alarm.

Instead of replying, Sora charged forwards with his weapon as Violet marched forwards. In a loud, clear voice, the angel said, "You've been requested, Ryan!"

Out of the middle of nowhere appeared a flying dragon-like creature. It's body and tail were blue, its head was a yellow-greenish color, and its wings were a dark violet. Without a minute-long delay, Ryan swooped up to the hawk-shaped Nightmare and smacked the enemy's beak with its tail.

At the same time, Sora and Riku leaped into the air and slashed their Keyblades into the monster's wings and claws. After a few quick hits, the hawk-shaped Nightmare jumped into the air and retreated into the sky far above. Since the battle was over for now, Ryan hurried to where Violet was standing and vanished directly before the angel.

"Well, that takes care of that!" Sora grinned as he put his Keyblade away.

"Yeah, for _now_!" Riku reminded, putting away his own Keyblade.

All Violet did was shake her head once again. With that, Sora and Riku approached the spot where Tinker Bell and the other fairy were gathered. They quickly took notice that Tinker Bell was currently talking with the other fairy.

"Can I help you, Vidia?" Tinker Bell asked. This instantly clarified who the other fairy was, much to Riku's curiosity.

"Tinker Bell," Vidia scoffed. "Maybe if you had stopped _trying_ to 'help', you might have caused fewer disasters!"

In the blink of an eye, Vidia flew off from the branch. She had left with such swiftness not even Sora had been able to detect her method of departure. Rather than say anything about it, Sora turned to Tinker Bell and said, "Tinker Bell… "

"I can't hold water," Tinker Bell instantly shouted in a state of uproar. "I can't hold light! Birds _hate_ me! I'm just so… so _**useless**_!"

Before anyone could speak against what she had spoken, Tinker Bell flew off into the sky for an unknown destination. All the while, Sora repeatedly tried to seize her attention — to no success. He finally gave up and looked down.

"Sora?" Violet spoke up.

"Forget about me," Sora rapidly replied. "Tinker Bell… why don't you _remember_?"

Riku paused in deep contemplation. As far as the silver-haired Keyblade wielder was able to comprehend, Tinker Bell was most-likely one of the countless friends Sora had made acquaintance with during his previous journeys between worlds. However, the little fairy had absolutely no recollection of ever meeting the spikey-haired teenager. Had someone or something erased every chunk of memory she had obtained? If so, who or what? Could it have been another Nightmare? Or was it something entirely irrelevant? Either way, there was still going to be unanswered questions for quite some time to come.

"I'm not sure it'll help," Riku finally stated. "But maybe if we _destroy_ that 'hawk'… "

Everyone else stared in anticipation. In turn, Riku finished, "…Tink's memory _might_ return to normal?"

"Yeah!" Sora exclaimed. A moment later, he paused thinking over what he had heard. "…At least, I _think_ it's worth a try."

"Perhaps," Violet agreed on cue. "There's no harm in trying. Right?"

"Yeah! Of course!" Sora perked up. He somehow failed to notice Riku's smirked grin forming.

Without a minute's delay, the trio flew into the sky above to search for the current whereabouts of the hawk-resembling monster. As far as Sora could make out, the only way possible to restore Tinker Bell's seemingly stolen memory was by eliminating that dark, maybe-dangerous creature.

Recalling how the Queen of Heart's memory had been swiped by a gigantic Heartless back in _**Wonderland**_, Sora was certain this situation was no different. His mind came to a sudden halt when he realized his memories of defeating the _**Trickmaster**_ Heartless [Leader] were not as accurate as he had known them to be.

In reality, he knew he, Donald, and Goofy had defeated the enemy after being directed straight to it by the mysterious, perplexing character comprising of the personality surrounding the Cheshire Cat. Yet, within these other memories, he recalled the Heartless stumbled upon him after swiping every last shred of memory the Queen of Hearts had.

How was it possible for one story to have two completely unrelated point-of-views? Sure, Sora had learned about how there were normally two sides to every story, but usually those sides were opposites of one another. Weren't they? Or were they meant to be so dissimilar from each other? As far as Sora was concerned, there was absolutely no easy-to-obtain explanation for such an occurrence.

All at once, Riku yelled loudly, "Over there!"

Both Sora and Violet turned their fields of vision into the direction of which Riku was now gesturing. The three had already flown out of the forest and were now soaring over a large, endless meadow of lush, green grass. Directly before them was the Nightmare whose figure resembled a hawk; the creature was calmly coursing through the air as though it was enjoying the nice, mid-afternoon air. Nonetheless, the group already were well aware of how much the creatures often behaved like that of various types of animals. Clearly, this one was no different from that of the others.

"Let's _get_ 'em!" Sora declared, summoning his Keyblade before swooping after the monster. Unfortunately, the Nightmare identified the attacking Keyblader and swiftly dodged Sora's weapon. This left Sora both mystified and befuddled alike. Still, it wasn't enough to prevent the teen from reattempting to strike the creature.

Seeing Sora struggling to even achieve a solid impact on the Nightmare, Riku summoned his own Keyblade and charged into battle to aid his best friend. Moments before Riku could deal a single bit of damage onto the hawk-like enemy, the creature noticed him and swerved out of harm's way. Now able to comprehend how frustrated Sora was beginning to feel, Riku tried multiple times to clobber the monster — to no avail.

After nearly five minutes of unsuccessful attempts to injure the Nightmare, both Sora and Riku had grown so worn-out that their wings became too heavy to keep they aloft. The duo fell out of the air as the monster cawed out in victory.

When both Sora and Riku had managed to catch their breath, they took into account of the fact they had crash-landed upon a small mound of soft blades of the lush, green grass. They took a brief second to realize Violet had placed the mound accordingly so the pair wouldn't have been injured by the unexpected plunge from overhead. They nodded in relief and gratitude.

However Violet seemed frantically distressed. "Let's get going you two," the angel rushed. "The Nightmare is heading in the direction of _**Springtime Square**_!"

Sora's eyes lit up the instant he had heard every word the angel had spoken. As he sat up, the teenager noticed Riku was doing the same thing.

"Well, what are we waiting for?!" Sora exclaimed. "We've got a _job_ to do!"

"Yeah!" Riku approved in agreement.

In the next few moments, the trio had taken flight at lightning speed to reach the location of Springtime Square. Along the way, they passed over a lengthy field full of golden-yellow sunflowers.

Noticing some of the flowers had been toppled with several fairies gathered about them, it occurred to Sora of how much devastation the monster was causing. In turn, he constantly hoped without a doubt they would arrive at the plaza before it was too late. If only they would get there first…

* * *

Finally, Sora, Riku, and Violet reached the plaza consisting of Springtime Square. Sadly, the three had arrived too late. As he swept his eyes across the surrounding area, Sora sighed in distraught disbelief. The whole plaza was filled with scattered debris. Among the debris was a vast array of an enormous variety of seeds. Alongside them were insects that resembled ladybugs except their colors were all mixed into what seemed to be splattered paint on an artist's canvas.

"We didn't make it," Sora sighed in a tone of depression. Both Riku and Violet gave slight nods in return.

At that moment, the three spotted Tinker Bell standing within the plaza, horror showing upon her face. The little fairy was barely able to speak, "Oh no!"

"Tink," Silvermist exclaimed as she flittered from elsewhere over to where Tinker Bell was at. "What happened?"

"Tinker Bell," Rosetta exclaimed in turn as she also emerged from someplace else. "What did you think you were _doing_?!"

"She didn't do _**anything**_!" Sora snapped aloud, seizing the undivided attention of Silvermist, Rosetta, and Tinker Bell.

"Yeah," Riku added. "We were trying to get rid of the 'hawk'!"

"There isn't a fairy alive who can control those things!" Rosetta argued. Her face had transformed into a fiery glare. "What were you trying to _do_?!"

Sora and his friends turned to each other, only to exchange blank looks with one another. Noticing this, Silvermist turned to Tinker Bell. "Rosetta is right," the Water-talent Fairy spoke up. "This has all gone too far, now."

A full minute hadn't even passed after Silvermist had spoken before a bright flash of golden light filled the air above. As it subsided, the unmistakable figure of Queen Clarion appeared in its place. One short glance upon the plaza was all it took for Queen Clarion's eyes to expand in alarm. "By the _second __**star**_," she exclaimed. "All the preparations for Spring! How did this… "

Before the queen could complete her sentence, Tinker Bell strode forward with a guilty look on her face. As tears began to form within her eyes, Tinker Bell said, "Queen Clarion… it was me. I did it… it's all my fault."

"Tinker Bell… " Queen Clarion stated in astonishment. Regretfully, not even the queen's words would have been able to reassure the depressed and hopeless-feeling Tinker Fairy.

"I'm sorry!" Tinker Bell wept into her hands.

As Sora stepped forwards, he gently placed his hand onto Tinker Bell's shoulder. When the fairy turned to see what was going on, Sora said, "It wasn't your fault, Tinker Bell!"

After a brief pause and a short sigh, the brown-haired teenager continued, "It was _mine_!"

Even so, Tinker Bell stepped out of Sora's reach. "But _who's_ idea was it to try to switch talents?!" she countered. "It wasn't yours! It was _**mine**_!"

Having spoken the hard-to-accept veracity, Tinker Bell solemnly departed from the plaza and ventured off to someplace else. At the same time, she soared past the white flower the fairies had referred to as the Everblossum. As its petals were hinting the ever-approaching day they would open up, Sora knew this meant there was very little time left before the fairies were supposed to be bringing Spring to the 'Mainland'.

All the same, once Queen Clarion had departed to hold an emergency meeting with the Ministers of each season, the fairies who had already been in what was left of Springtime Square began to scoop up whatever debris they could.

In the meantime, both Riku and Violet walked up to where Sora was now looking down once more. Following a glance with the angel, Riku said, "Sora? Are you feeling alright?"

"_**No**_," Sora initially answered. As he looked back up, the teenager spun around to face the other two. "I don't get it! Tinker Bell's my _friend_; she showed me how to _**fly**_! How does she not remember that?!"

Both Riku and Violet crossed their arms in deep pondering. Before any of them had the opportunity to consider any of the recently-acquired information regarding the little fairy, they were interrupted by a strange, yet familiar voice.

"The friend you know here is _**not**_ the Tinker Bell you remember!"

Whirling around in place, the trio gasped at the mere sight of who turned out to be none other than the mysterious stranger they had previously encountered back in both _**Traverse Town**_ and _**Corona**_. Now he was confronting them in this Sleeping World, too. However, his golden eyes seemed somewhat darker than usual.

"_You're_ here?!" Sora blurted. "What do you mean by _**that**_?!"

"There are _two_ Tinker Bells?" Violet randomly suggested. This resulted in a series of puzzled looks in return.

"Not two Tinker Bells," another deep, darker voice called out. "But there are still two hearts!"

Hastily turning to the left, Sora, Riku, and Violet spotted another figure just emerging from a dark portal. It was a tall, dark-tanned man with amber eyes and long, spiked-white hair. He was wearing a white-and-black coat with a red lining over a white shirt, white gloves, and black boots. The upper part of his shirt was unbuttoned, thus revealing a symbol one might have easily recognized as the infamous Heartless Emblem.

One simple look was all it really needed for Riku to immediately identify who the new arrival was. Before the silver-haired Keyblade wielder could seal his lips, the words had already escaped for all to hear and [possibly] comprehend.

"You're _**ANSEM**_!"

* * *

**A/N: ANSEM?! IN PIXIE HOLLOW?! HOW CAN THAT BE?!**

**Hmm... I suppose we'll be finding out in the next chapter or so.**

**Either way, I sincerely apologize for such a "dark-sensation"-full chapter, which actually happened to be THIS particular one.  
Still, there MIGHT be a few more "dark-tone" chapters yet to come in the remaining chapters I've already got planned out.**

**By the way, PLEASE DON'T LEAVE WITHOUT REVIEWING! THE FATE OF THIS STORY DEPENDS ON IT!**

**This is SoraLego278 saying, "See Ya Later, Keybladers!"**


	11. Ch11 - Memorable Visions

**DISCLAIMER: I OWN NOTHING EXCEPT MY ORIGINAL CHARACTERS!**

**A/N: Well... I'd hate to say it, but... this... is... the... last... chapter... for... Pixie Hollow...**

**Yet, that more-than-likely means this is going to be quite a length-y chapter. After all, I did end Chapter 10 with a tension-building moment!**

**On the side, I wanted to mention about the fact I have noticed the amount of Views & Reviews alike has significantly DECREASED recently. Therefore, PLEASE try to REVIEW THIS STORY A.S.A.P.! If I do NOT receive around 100 Reviews by the END of this story, I've considered NOT posting my second story - AT ALL! You all would just have to wait until the THIRD story!**

**Either way, I'm certain you're all extremely anxious to learn WHY Ansem, The Seeker of Darkness appeared inside PIXIE HOLLOW!**

**IF that's so, then here's your chance! HAVE FUN READING AWAY!**

* * *

**CHAPTER 11  
Memorable Visions**

Riku was beyond mystification. There he was, the one who had previously possessed his body; the Heartless he and Sora should've defeated for good — _**Ansem, the Seeker of Darkness**_. One look at the villain and Riku had realized the name had just escaped his lips. Knowing he had been unable to contain it, he decided to seize the opportunity to inquire the main question now drifting through his thoughts.

"Why are _**you**_ here?!" the silver-haired youth exclaimed. After all, how was it possible for this human-resembling Heartless to have created such a miraculous return? Such a fate for a Heartless having been slain by a Keyblade-type weapon was supposed to have been impossible. On the contrary, Ansem had mysteriously overcome the unreachable and been revived. But… how could that be?

Next to where Ansem was standing, the stranger wearing the black-hooded coat of the late Organization XIII gave an evil smirk.

The younger man explained, "Your best _friend_ is never far!"

"What do you mean by 'friend'?!" Violet unexpectedly barged in. Her query had been entirely ignored by the others.

"You know not where you've arrived," Ansem monotonously specified. "Or… _who_ you have met."

Sora's facial expression swiftly transitioned into a deep, reddish-glowing glare. "Of course we know who we met," the teenage Keyblade-Master-In-Training retaliated. "Tinker Bell is my _friend_! _**Nothing**_ else!"

Ansem gave a miniature-sized snort of disapproval at the challenge Sora had posed. Rather than except it, the Seeker of Darkness proceeded to reveal what he desired to say. "Long ago, I sent many groups of Heartless into various worlds," he began in his lengthy story. "Most of those worlds' Keyholes were uncovered, allowing me to consume them in the _glorious_ powers of the _**Darkness**_. One such world had a Keyhole clearly located within a large, crooked tree, to which I was able to consume the world as planned. Still, when I ventured about to check each of the remaining worlds, I discovered the world I had thought to be lost was still mostly intact. At first, I assumed I had failed to locate the world's Keyhole, but I knew I had _already_ found it."

Turning to look at the two Keyblade wielders and the Angel of Dreams, Ansem gestured directly to indicate Sora. He continued, "You, _**Sora**_, found the Keyhole I had missed. Had I known to inspect that clock-tower more closely, I might've found the secret way to reveal it — just like _you_ had."

Sora was sensing a combination of shock and puzzlement. "The 'clock-tower'," he muttered uneasily. "That world you mentioned. It… was… _**Never Land**_?!"

Both Riku and Violet were on the verge of sensing a possible trick up the villain's sleeve. However, all Ansem did in response was simply nod with an evil grin starting to form upon his face.

"Correct," Ansem confirmed. "This now-Sleeping world… the world of fairies — _**Pixie Hollow**_ — is part of a larger world; _**Never Land**_. The reason why I had failed to consume this world initially was because it did not have one, but _two_ hearts — one for the island, and one for the 'Mainland'."

Having heard the full explanation, Sora, Riku, and Violet were all nearly-equally speechless. Yet, Sora was the most-astounded of all. If what Ansem said was true, then _**Pixie Hollow**_ happened to be a missing piece in the actual world of _**Never Land**_ itself.

Before hearing about this, Sora had always been told every world had possessed a _single_ Keyhole leading to the heart of each individual world. Ironically, the world in which the Keyblader had met Peter Pan and Tinker Bell alike turned out to have contained _**two**_ distinct Keyholes. Therefore, when Sora had previously sealed the Keyhole located within the clock-tower, he had actually not officially prevented the world from falling to Darkness, but had only rescued a segment of the world he had visited. If they could unlock the Sleeping Keyhole, the world of _**Never Land**_ would once again be recompleted. Sora was positive that would be the case.

"As for you, Riku," Ansem spoke up, obviously indicating Riku. "_Embrace_ the Darkness. You have no idea what you are missing out on."

"So _what_?!" Riku snapped in return. His Keyblade rapidly appeared in his hands as he immediately switched over into his usual fighting stance. "_I_ walk the _Road to_ _**Dawn**_!"

"Still afraid of the Darkness," the mysterious stranger in the black-hooded coat commented. "I sense much anxiety inside you."

As the strange man in black stepped into a dark portal he had opened a moment before, Ansem turned to Riku — his evil-looking smile deepening. "I'll be waiting for you to reconsider your decision, Riku."

In a state of total silence, Ansem, the Seeker of Darkness, vanished through the dark portal the strange man had already journeyed into. In less than a second after the villains had departed, the portal of Darkness disappeared from sight.

After a few minutes of unbearable quiet, he heard Violet ask, "That guy was very, _very_ creepy."

"That 'guy' was _Xehanort's __**Heartless**_," Sora clarified. "Donald, Goofy, and I defeated him over a year ago. I don't get how he could've returned."

"Maybe he's teleporting through the time-stream?" Violet suggested, though the actual concept was mind-boggling for even the angel to understand what she had spoken of.

"That doesn't make _any_ sense," Sora denied. "Time travel is not possible. There's no way he could have jumped through time!"

Violet folded her arms in thought.

Riku was unconvinced. "He thinks I'm still afraid of the dark," he suddenly exclaimed. "Not while _I_ have the Keyblade! It will guide me to the _**Light**_!"

Both Sora and Violet nodded in turn. Either way, they were showing signs of bewilderment and perplexity combined. Before any of the trio could speak, the undeniable figure of Queen Clarion was fluttering back into the vicinity of Springtime Square.

"Attention everyone!" Queen Clarion called out into the plaza below. All of the various-talented fairies attempting to organize the mess of debris scattered about the area instantly halted in whatever they were currently in progress with so they could give their undivided attention to the queen.

With a hint of sorrow in her voice, Queen Clarion continued, "I'm afraid I have distressing news. There is no way Spring can come on time."

The crowd of fairies below all gasped in shock upon hearing this newsflash. Even Sora, Riku, and Violet were astonished. Not only had the hawk-shaped Nightmare succeeded in escaping from the clutches of the Keyblade wielders, but it had caused so much devastation to Springtime Square that the fairies would be incapable of bringing the season of Spring to the Mainland.

"_**Months**_ of work was lost," Queen Clarion explained. "And it will take _months_ to restore it all. So when the Everblossum blooms tomorrow morning… "

With a glance over at the nearly-opened flower, the queen finished, "…I'm afraid we will not be going to the Mainland for Spring."

As the crowd was in the process of sighing in unfortunate defeat, Sora's ears picked up the sound of a familiar-sounding voice.

"_**Wait**_!" Less than a minute after, the little fairy Sora knew as Tinker Bell swooped into the vicinity and approached the queen as fast as her wings allowed her to. Though slightly out of breath, Tinker Bell was able to say, "I know how we can fix everything!"

All the same, Sora, Riku, and Violet were equally surprised to spot the young Tinker Fairy trying to offer a suggestion to resolve the impact the hawk-like monster had left.

"Tinker Bell," Queen Clarion calmly said. "I don't think now's the best time."

"Hey!" Sora spoke up, flying up to meet the queen face-to-face. Down below, Riku and Violet watched nervously as their friend had suddenly ventured away without any foreseen warning. Instead of yelling as expected by Riku, Sora had said, "At least hear her out!"

After Queen Clarion had given in to Sora's recommendation, Tinker Bell held up a furled, green leaf in her hands. As she unrolled it, the Tinker Fairy held it up high to show its contents to the eyes of the crowd below. "It's all right here! I can show you how! Planting seeds, gathering nuts… we can do it all in _no_ time! We need to at least _**try**_!"

"Yeah! Of course!" Sora acknowledged in agreement. Just as well, both Riku and Violet soared up to join him.

"Together, we can do it!" Violet agreed.

Riku added, "Let's give it a try!"

"Wait!" The group whirled their focus over towards a faintly-familiar fairy speedily-soaring over to Tinker Bell. She came to a brief stop in front of the younger Tinker Fairy. Turning to the crowd, the fairy — Sora and Riku recalled her name was Vidia — turned to the crowd and declared, "Are we _**really**_ going to listen to them?! Tinker Bell and her friends are the _reason_ we're in this huge mess!"

"But… I can fix it!" a confused Tinker Bell stated aloud.

"Yippee!" Vidia sarcastically cheered. "Tinker Bell's going to save us with her dopey-little doo-hickeys!"

It wasn't long before Sora took notice of how much of a reddish tint Tinker Bell's face was turning. The instant Vidia had stopped speaking, the Tinker Fairy glowered, "What is your problem, Vidia?! Why do you think you're so much _better_ than me?!"

Vidia swiftly spun to glare at the young Tinker Fairy in turn. "I _am_ better than you, sweetie," Vidia countered. "I'm not the one who ruined Spring!"

"At least _she's_ trying to help fix it!" Sora broke in. "Have you ever helped anyone _**besides **_yourself?!"

"Well I _did_ try to help her!" Vidia snapped in retaliation. "Perhaps I should've told her to capture a _real_ hawk instead of the so-called '_**Dream Eater**_'!"

A loud gasp echoed about the crowd, having just comprehended virtually every last bit of detail Sora, Tinker Bell, and Vidia had expressed between one another. For what felt to be somewhere around five minutes, eerie silence had descended upon the plaza.

At long last, Violet's voice broke the stillness. "_Where_ did you learn the name 'Dream Eater'?" the angel interrogated, indicating Vidia. Seconds before Vidia was able to even utter a single hint of reply, a deafening scream filled everyone's ears.

"_**HAWK**_!" the voice of a fairy shrieked in fright.

As the entire crowd turned their attention to see whatever had supposedly been spotted, a gigantic, hawk-shaped creature swooped into the square. Due to the urgent need to seek shelter immediately, every fairy of the crowd scattered around to find whatever could be feasible for shelter. Queen Clarion quickly flew into the safety of a nearby tree when the hawk was almost upon the group gathered in the air. As Violet was on the verge of diving into a shelter she had just identified on the ground below, Sora's voice stopped her.

"Wait," the spikey brown-haired teenager called out. "That's _no_ hawk! It's that Nightmare we were chasing!"

Violet whirled around, quickly realizing Sora's claim was accurate. The 'hawk' really was the same monster they had been pursuing previously.

Noticing how Tinker Bell was apparently frozen in shock and fear at the mere sight of the hawk-resembling Nightmare, Riku grabbed her arms and began shaking as violently as he could. Fortunately, Tinker Bell snapped back into attention only moments after being shaken. The first thing the young Tinker Fairy did was exclaim, "What's going on?!"

"I don't know," Riku replied. "But I'll try to find out."

All at once, Tinker Bell's face turned white with additional shock and alarm. "_**VIDIA**_?!" she blurted out.

Spinning around to where Vidia had been hovering, Riku was horrified to find the other fairy still where she had been, calmly watching while the hawk-like monster was gliding behind her.

"Vidia's _controlling_ the Nightmare?!" Sora exclaimed, quite certain he was unable to believe his own perspective.

Vidia gave her typical smirked smile. "I was given the power to control this creature," she disclosed. "It was a sudden gift from that guy in black."

To say Riku, Violet, and Sora were speechless would be well below an understatement. They had just learned the truth. The strange man in the black-hooded coat — a possible survivor of the former Organization XIII — had secretively made a deal with the [Fast-Flying] fairy who happened to be Tinker Bell's 'rival'. He had granted her the ability to manipulate the Darkness to force a hawk-shaped Nightmare to most-likely prevent the Keyblade wielders from victoriously tracking down the Sleeping Keyhole. Nonetheless, they knew whatever had occurred was simply a random obstacle on their present mission. The only way they were going to have the ability to meet their objective was by striking down that Nightmare.

Without a moment of hesitation, both Sora and Riku summoned their Keyblades into their standard fighting styles. Violet accompanied them as they flew into range of both the hawk-like monster and Vidia.

In a loud voice, Sora shouted, "You're going _down_, Vidia!"

"_Count_ on it!" Riku agreed in turn.

Acting swiftly, Violet leaped in front of Tinker Bell to prevent the young fairy from being harmed in case the hawk-shaped creature came after them.

Having viewed all this taking place, Vidia's smile grew larger. "If it's a challenge you want," she declared. "I'll show you why Tinker Fairies were _**never**_ meant to visit the Mainland!"

Instantly, both Riku and Sora charged forwards and sliced their weapons into the hawk-like enemy's wings. The monster hastily regained consciousness and swung its tail after them. Fortunately, the pair of Keybladers were not caught off-guard and successfully were able to dodge the attack. With a series of grunts and the sounds of slashing, the duo struck the Nightmare repeatedly as they swooped up and down around the creature.

Furious at the sight of watching her minion being greatly injured by the two teenagers, Vidia swiftly soared through the area. The result was a miniature whirlwind, causing both Sora and Riku to nearly lose control of their wings. In the nick of time, they successfully had kept their balance before each dealing a final strike against the hawk-like enemy.

Seconds after the last hits, the now-stunned hawk-shaped Nightmare had lost its flying capability and started to fall straight out of the air. As it fell, Vidia watched in horror as the Nightmare suddenly exploded into a flurry of bubbles. Outraged at having her minion eliminated, Vidia glared at Sora, Riku, and Violet. Though without speaking another word, the former swiftly soared off into the distance. In turn, Sora and Riku both put their weapons away and smiled; they had prevailed in destroying the Nightmare.

* * *

A few minutes later, Queen Clarion had emerged from her hiding place and the crowd of fairies from the plaza had returned.

In a calm, clear voice, the queen addressed Tinker Bell, "Now Tinker Bell, are you sure you can do this?"

Without a second of hesitation, Tinker Bell answered, "Yes! I'm a _**Tinker**_! It's who I am! And Tinkers _fix_ things!"

As she spun to face the crowd alongside Sora and his friends, Tinker Bell added, "But I can't do it alone."

As if on cue, two fairies rose from the crowd at almost-lightning speed. Sora recognized them as the duo of Tinker Fairies he, Riku, and Violet had encountered upon arriving in the world; Bobble and Clank. The latters saluted with a shout of, "Command us, Miss Bell!"

"Show us how, Tink!" another fairy from the crowd said as she rose to join the others beginning to gather around the young Tinker Fairy.

"Just tell us," Sora clarified. "And we'll do it to it!"

Tinker Bell smiled greatly. "Okay," she began instructing. "Gather as many nuts as you can find… and tree sap — we need lots of it. But most importantly, we need to find _**Lost Things**_!"

"What are 'Lost Things'," Sora inquired, slightly puzzled.

"They are things that get lost and wash up onto Never Land from time to time," Bobble whispered in return. "They're from the Mainland."

Sora gave a nod in understanding. "Got it!"

* * *

After searching for a few, briskly-moving hours, Sora and Riku came across a huge, container sitting upright in a small clearing in the grassy meadow. Yet, neither one of them had seen such a uniquely-shaped object before. It contained a large, squishy ball at the end of a cord leading to a spout at the top of the glass flask.

"What do we have here?" Riku curiously asked, as he peered into the spout.

Grasping the squishy ball in his hands, Sora muttered, "Wonder what _this_ does?"

The very instant Sora gave the ball a squeeze, Riku was blown backwards by a swift-moving blast of released air escaping through the spout. When he noticed his best friend had been thrown back into a shadow-covered rock, Sora hurriedly flew over — hoping his friend hadn't been wounded.

As he reached out his hand for Riku, Sora asked, "You okay?"

Riku accepted Sora's hand with an obvious nod. "Yeah."

After Sora had helped Riku clamber back onto his feet, the former's eyes grew wide in amazement. What the brown, spikey-haired Keyblade wielder had believed was a simply rock turned out to be a small, marble-resembling dancer. He knew this was not just any dancer on top; it was a tiny ballerina.

As Riku whirled his focus around to see what had stolen Sora's total attention, he awed in equal admiration.

"I saw it first!" Sora marveled.

Riku awed, "Still, _**I**_ bumped into it!"

* * *

By the time the rays of the rising sun had come into view over the realm of _**Pixie Hollow**_, the fairies had just finished all the required tasks to restore all of the supplies necessary to bring the season of Spring to the Mainland. As the sun's beautiful, brightly-lit morning rays pierced through the trees into Springtime Square, the well-known Everblossum's petals carefully opened up to collect the warmth and light of the peaceful sunlight.

As Queen Clarion and the Minister of Spring calmly arrived into the plaza, the crowd of fairies who had succeeded in bringing Tinker Bell's plans into practice all gave a lengthy round of applause.

When the queen approached Tinker Bell, Sora, Riku, and Violet, she gave a heart-warming smile. "You did it, Tinker Bell," Queen Clarion commended. "You saved Spring!"

"No," Tinker Bell corrected. She gestured to the crowd of fairies gathered around the vicinity. "We _all_ did it!"

Riku smiled at this statement. "Yeah!" he agreed.

"You know it!" Sora added, inserting another 'two-cents-worth' comment as Riku normally referred to them as.

"Yes, indeed!" Violet approved.

All at once, Rosetta, Silvermist, Iridessa, and Fawn all flew over to the group. Turning to Queen Clarion, Silvermist questioned, "Queen Clarion, could Tinker Bell come with us to the Mainland?"

"Yeah," Fawn acknowledged. "She's been helping everyone out so much!"

"But… guys," Tinker Bell spoke up. "I don't really need to go!"

"But Tinker Bell," Sora broke in. "I thought you _**really**_ wanted to visit the Mainland! Why change your mind?"

"It's okay," Tinker Bell answered. "My work is here. And besides, I have _so_ much more work to do."

"Not here you don't!" The sudden voice caused everyone to curiously turn into the direction by which it had come from. The older Tinker Fairy Sora and his friends had only encountered briefly earlier in their adventure within the world was flying up to meet Tinker Bell and the others.

Recognizing the just-arriving fairy woman, Tinker Bell exclaimed, "Fairy Mary?! But _I_ thought that—!"

Fairy Mary quickly cut off Tinker Bell's claim before gesturing towards a cart carrying a marble-made statue of a ballerina. As they followed the cart along, a pair of Tinker Fairies — Bobble and Clank — smiled with gratitude.

Bobble called out, "Look, Miss Bell!"

"We found your tiny… 'dancer'!" Clank declared in tune.

Tinker Bell's eyes rapidly lit up in surprise upon recognizing the ballerina statue. One look at the recovered trinket and Sora realized it was the exact same one he and Riku had stumbled upon during their search for whatever 'Lost Things' they could find.

Still, what Bobble and Clank had told Tinker Bell in regards to the statue got the Keyblade wielder pondering. Why were they referring to the item as though Tinker Bell was its owner? Had she sculpted it out of the marble herself? The very idea of a Tinker Fairy possessing the capability to make such interestingly-appearing pieces of artwork made little to no sense. If Tinker Fairies were mainly inventors, then how did Tinker Bell obtain the statue?

When he was in the process of silently questioning whether or not there were such things as 'Artist Fairies', the symbol on Violet's necklace started glowing. Snapping back into reality, Sora and Riku both stared at the charm as it suddenly drew Violet's focus away from everything else going on around them.

"Must be a flashback, huh?" Sora inquired. He recalled how the last time that necklace had glowed in such a manner, Violet had revealed it meant an event which had previously taken place could be shown visually. In fact, the result had been a projection on the outer walls of the castle back in the kingdom of _**Corona**_.

When Violet nodded, the necklace let out a beam of light. The light-beam came to a halt at a medium-sized mushroom. As a projected screen appeared a couple centimeters above the red-and-white spotted mushroom, the image of Tinker Bell leaning against the stem of a gigantic three-leaf clover came into focus. It didn't take long for Sora, Riku, and Violet to notice the young Tinker Fairy was throwing small, smooth stones into the air.

* * *

_"**Great**," Tinker Bell complained as the last stone she had thrown rolled to a stop on the ground several feet away. "I failed for the **third **time in a row!"_

_As she picked up another tiny, ball-shaped stone, the young fairy grumbled, "At this rate, I should get to the Mainland right about… "_

_With a groan, Tinker Bell hurled the stone with all her might. "…**Never**!"_

_After the stone had disappeared out of sight, the sudden — yet unmistakable — sound of a **CLANG** rapidly seized Tinker Bell's attention. Curious to learn what the stone most-likely had collided into, she leaped to her feet and quickly began searching through the thick foliage of clovers in the same direction the stone had gone._

_It wasn't long before Tinker Bell stepped into a decent-sized clearing. To her surprise, a large, marble cylinder was sitting in the middle of the area with a variety of metallic-like objects strewn about. As she carefully lifted the lid of the cylinder, the Tinker Fairy took note of a small, snail gradually making its way through the empty interior of the container._

_When it occurred to her that the various slots in the cylinder should have been filled by something or other, Tinker Bell used a small Y-shaped stick to prop the lid of the container open. Turning to inspect the various oddly-designed things lying about in the immediate vicinity, Tinker Bell swiftly picked up each and every one of the strange items and carefully chose where she believed each one would fit inside the cylinder the best._

_After a few minutes of attaching every last part to the interior, Tinker Bell proceeded to close the lid. One mere glance at the center of the lid and she realized something else was still unaccounted for. Taking one final sweep of the area, the young fairy identified the missing piece of the puzzle lying beneath the shade of a few much-shorter clovers. It was heavy, but she yanked on the item and pulled it straight out from its hiding place. Tinker Bell gasped the instant she got a better look at it. The object was a miniature statue of a dancing ballerina wearing a crown._

_"So beautiful!" Tinker Bell awed at the very sight of such a unique thing. With a few heaves and a couple of grunts, she lifted the ballerina piece, carried it straight to the cylinder and placed its peg-like base into the center of the lid. To actually insert the item completely, Tinker Bell had to fly on top of it and press down from above. As expected, the ballerina snapped into place without any trouble._

_As she took a few moments to admire her reconstructed trinket, Tinker Bell took the ballerina's outstretched hand and walked in a perfect circle around it. As she did so, the sound of a few, quick notes of a song could faintly be heard. Stopping after completing her miniature 'dance', Tinker Bell gave a nice, comfortable smile. She knew it had been repaired correctly._

* * *

After the projection had faded out and vanished, Sora understood what Tinker Bell's friends had meant by the statue was hers. In truth, Tinker Bell had found the trinket in pieces most-likely not long after the bird-related incident had failed in utter disaster. Yet, the young Tinker Fairy had successfully rebuilt the item into what Sora now assumed was more-than-likely not a statue but a ballerina-based music box. How else could the trinket have had the ability to produce the music notes it had?

"Actually, _I_ came across this many seasons ago," Fairy Mary spoke up, taking everyone's attention with it. "I didn't have a clue what it was nor how to fix it."

Turning to face Tinker Bell, Fairy Mary continued, "But _**you**_ did, Tinker Bell. You are quite the _rare-talent_ indeed!"

As the words registered within her mind, Tinker Bell gave a deep smile clearly full of undeniable pride.

"And I imagine," Fairy Mary continued. "There's a little girl out there who's missing this."

Tinker Bell was perplexed. "What're you saying?"

Fairy Mary crossed her arms as she stood beside Queen Clarion. "I believe a _certain_ Tinker Fairy will have a job to do after all — on the _**Mainland**_!"

"You mean… " Tinker Bell stammered when it occurred to her what Fairy Mary had meant. Her face lit up with pure excitement as she became overjoyed. She cheerfully flittered over to where Rosetta, Silvermist, Iridessa, and Fawn were standing. The four nature-talented fairies were already thrilled about the opportunity Tinker Bell was going to have.

From where he was standing, Sora was speechless. The whole time Tinker Bell had been desperately attempting to become someone she was never meant to be. In the end, her wish to visit the Mainland had been granted, even when she had admitted moments before it wasn't so important to her anymore.

Now certain the young Tinker Fairy had discovered her true purpose, Sora casually leaned back and placed his hands behind his head. He gave his favorite smile as he rocked his arms and head back and forth repeatedly.

Also having comprehended what Fairy Mary had meant, Riku was giving his own smile of acceptance. After all, he had struggled with trying to be someone he wasn't supposed to have become, either. The impact had regretfully left an enormous imprint onto the silver-haired teenager's life story. Hence, he was now taking his Mark of Mastery Exam to decide whether or not he should continue to possess a Keyblade or not. If he were to unsuccessfully become a Keyblade Master, then he would be positive the Darkness in his heart would forever be well beyond his control. If he was victorious, however, then he would be confident enough to proceed onwards as a conquer of the Darkness still residing deep, down within his heart.

Though having heard every word Fairy Mary had spoken, Violet was still slightly puzzled about what the former had been saying. Why would Tinker Bell be allowed to visit the Mainland if she was a Tinker Fairy? Why hadn't Fairy Mary just picked another fairy who was already going to travel there to do the same task? Such explanations had never been answered to the Angel of Dreams' satisfaction or expectations.

"Oh! Oh! We'll help, Miss Bell!" Clank excitedly proclaimed.

"I'm _strong_!" Bobble declared in turn, flexing the muscles of his thin arms. All Violet did when she saw this was simple shake her head.

While the rest of Tinker Bell's friends marched off to line up with the gathering crowd of other fairies ready to venture forth to the Mainland, Tinker Bell calmly strode up to Queen Clarion and curtseyed.

"Thank you, Your Highness!" Tinker Bell said. As she stood back up, the young fairy asked, "But how will I find who it belongs to?"

"You'll know," Queen Clarion reassured. "Now go!"

Tinker Bell nodded before flying off. Seconds later, she froze and whirled around. With a rapid flutter, she leaped into Fairy Mary's arms. Though startled at this unforeseen event, Tinker Bell gave a grateful hug. She said, "Thank you!"

After Fairy Mary returned the hug, Tinker Bell flew off to meet with her friends. Just as well, Sora, Riku, and Violet had marched over to join the fairies for the voyage to the Mainland. As Tinker Bell was almost to them, a voice called out, "Hey, Tink!"

To Sora, Riku, and Violet's wonder, a small fairy boy wearing an acorn cap, brown pants, tan shirt, brown vest, and brown shoes flew up to Tinker Bell. Looking for such a close distance, Sora noticed the boy had blonde hair and blue eyes with the normal set of clear wings situated upon his back. As the boy handed Tinker Bell a small, green bag made up leaves, he said, "Here's something to help you on the Mainland."

Following a short peek inside, Tinker Bell smiled at the boy. "Aw Terence," she calmly said. "That's so sweet!"

Shortly after Tinker Bell flew over to stick with her friends, Terence softly responded, "Good luck, Tick!"

Although he was wondering about what type of relationship Tinker Bell and the fairy boy, Terence, had among each other, Sora shrugged the entire idea aside as he watched the Minister of Spring hop aboard one of the white doves in the crowd. With a loud, leader-sounded voice, the Minister of Spring called out, "To the air, fairies! To the air! The Mainland awaits!"

In a matter of minutes, the whole crowd of fairies had leapt into the sky and were flying as a group on course for one of two stars shining in the sky far above. As the two Keyblade wielders and the angel followed along, Riku noticed Bobble and Clank were carrying the trinket Tinker Bell had repaired. After watching Bobble struggle attempting to handle the base of the item for a few moments, Queen Clarion casually tossed a boost of magical pixie dust onto him. With the extra help, Bobble was able to lift the item without any more difficulty.

* * *

Within five minutes of taking to the sky, the fairies were so far up in the air Sora looked down and spotted a large island he thought seemed somewhat familiar. After a brief moment, he exclaimed, "_**Pixie Hollow**_ _**is**_ a part of _**Never Land**_!"

As he swept his eyes across the group of fairies, Sora took notice of the Minister of Spring and Tinker Bell turning to see each other. As the Minister gave a slight bow, Tinker Bell returned with a small curtsey, which was followed by a swift movement as she placed her hands behind her back.

* * *

Barely ten minutes had gone by when Sora looked back in the direction the group had journeyed from. To his amazement, the crowd had travelled so far the Keyblader was easily able to detect the star he knew was the famous "_Second Star To The Right_". As he turned his head around, a faint "Wahoo!" filled his ears. Turning to see what had made the sound, Sora spotted Tinker Bell happily twirling in the air just above a cluster of clouds. All he did was smile.

Seconds later, the cluster of clouds dispersed to reveal a large city located below. As he looked around with the others, Riku was astounded. Even in the middle of the night, the whole city appeared to be restless.

At that moment, a loud _**DONG**_ echoed into the air. Whirling to see where it had originated from, both Sora and Riku alike recognized the Clock-Tower of the world, _**Never Land**_. Noticing all the clocks were showing the exact, same time, neither of them were able to come up with a logical explanation as to why that was the case. They both simply pushed the thought aside and continued to follow everyone else as the fairies speedily circled the tall building a few times.

As the group headed into an empty patch of sky, the Minister of Spring proclaimed, "Fairies to the North! Fairies to the South! To the East and West!"

* * *

Not wanting to get lost in such a large city, Sora, Riku, and Violet followed Tinker Bell and her friends as the large crowd of fairies split up into different directions. The group they were now following was now entering a medium-sized city park. Despite how dark the night sky was, Sora and his friends were able to spot snow piled all over the ground with icicles hanging from the nearby trees. The park's pond was covered by a thick layer of ice with some snow having drifted upon it, too.

As they watched from above, Sora, Riku, and Violet saw several Light-talented Fairies leap onto the pond and use their magical powers to melt all the ice and snow in a short amount of time. Other Light-talented Fairies quickly spread outward to remove the piles of snow on the ground. Within twenty seconds, the sun was shining overhead, allowing the rest of the snow to also melt away. At the same time, some Animal-talented Fairies led some rabbits, skunks, and squirrels out of their dens in the nearby trees.

Noticing a line of icicles hanging on a branch, Sora and Riku began taking turns knocking them off. When only one remained between them, the two charged for it. However, Violet instantly sped through and knocked it off before either Keyblade wielder could reach it. This left both Sora and Riku equally startled and bewildered alike.

* * *

A few minutes later, Sora, Riku, and Violet were all watching from a wooden bench elsewhere in the park. As they watched, several Water-talented Fairies glided across the pond before rising up into the air. A large amount of water rose with them and sprinkled outwards all across the park's ground. Immediately following, a group of Garden-talented Fairies swooped across the landscape. The outcome was a whole field of various wildflowers.

Sora gave a large smile of enjoyment. The entire park had swiftly been transformed from a true Winter-Wonderland into a sparkling sight of beautiful flowers with a rainbow shining down upon the pond. All around, a variety of butterflies were flying about the seemingly endless flower glade.

It wasn't long before Tinker Bell, Rosetta, Silvermist, Iridessa, and Fawn all joined Sora, Riku, and Violet at the park bench. Before anyone could speak, a loud whistle grabbed their attention. Standing on the seat of the bench were Bobble and Clank, gesturing at the ballerina-trinket they had brought all the way from _**Pixie Hollow**_. Understanding what they meant, Tinker Bell slowly hopped down to them. When she was hovering over the trinket, the young Tinker Fairy pulled out the small, leafy bag Terence had given her and reached into it. After pulling out a small handful of pixie dust, Tinker Bell sprinkled it upon the ballerina, causing it to rise into the air.

Knowing they did not want to miss the opportunity to watch Tinker Bell's first delivery, Sora, Riku, and Violet all jumped from the bench and fluttered over to the young Tinker Fairy. The four looked back to see the smiling faces of Rosetta, Silvermist, Iridessa, Fawn, Bobble, and Clank all watching them. In return, Sora, Riku, Violet, and Tinker Bell gave grins of their own.

* * *

After hastily flittering between various windows of several houses, Tinker Bell was on the verge of continuing around a corner when she came to a halt. The fairy had stopped so suddenly that first Sora, followed by Riku, and finally Violet — all collided into her from behind. It took a few seconds to separate.

Mystified as to why they had come to such an abrupt halt, Sora inquired, "Why'd you stop, Tinker Bell?"

Tinker Bell looked into the direction of the house they had just passed. "I sensed something," she replied. "At one of those last windows."

As Tinker Bell led the way back to the window, Riku and Violet found themselves having to heave the ballerina-trinket along while Sora had gone ahead with the Tinker Fairy. Riku sighed, knowing such behavior was to be expected from Sora. Usually, the brown-haired teenager was so lazy he would sometimes make up excuses to get out of doing any tasks he was required to accomplish for whatever reason. Nonetheless, whenever it came to anything involving the Keyblade and his closest friends, Sora was daring to do whatever was necessary to succeed.

Finally gently setting down the ballerina-trinket, Riku and Violet each took a few moments to catch their breath; Riku wiped some sweat off his forehead. Rather than pay them any mind, both Sora and Tinker Bell peered through the window.

Peering into the room before his eyes, Sora noticed a large collection of toys piled in a corner. Among them were a few balls, a sailboat, and even a cozy-looking teddy bear. As he continued to look at them, the door to the room opened. Not wanting to be seen, both Sora and Tinker Bell took off away from the window and hid behind a small chimney. Noticing this, Riku and Violet rapidly did the same. They all continued to watch the window from their hiding place.

Before their eyes, the window opened and a young girl with brown hair and wearing a blue dress peered out. To the girl's amazement, on the windowsill stood the trinket. As she picked it up, the girl reached to her necklace. She revealed the last thing Sora, Tinker Bell, and the others would have expected — a tiny key with a heart-shaped handle. The girl inserted the key into the trinket and gave it a few twists.

As the sound of music echoed into the ears of the four spectators, Sora recalled having heard the song the music box was playing long ago. He thought the lyrics to himself.

"_**Think of all the joy you'll find!"**_

"_**When you leave the world behind!"**_

"_**And bid your fears goodbye!"**_

"_**You can fly! You can fly! **_**You can fly!**_**"**_

Overjoyed at having her music box back in her possession, the girl ran back inside. With a voice of excitement, she shouted, "_Mommy_! Guess _**what**_!"

From within the house, the girl's mother could be heard.

"Yes Wendy?" she called out. "What is it, darling?"

Hearing this, Sora was beyond speechless. The name of the girl he had just seen was… _**Wendy**_! As he recalled, Wendy was also the name of the girl Donald, Goofy, and him had assisted Peter Pan with rescuing. If what he now assumed was proven to be accurate, then that girl was the _same_ Wendy he had met.

Knowing she had helped spread happiness elsewhere, Tinker Bell took off into the air. Away she soared — laughing joyfully.

Still at the chimney, Riku commented, "She looks so happy."

"You could say _that_ again!" Violet agreed.

Sora was deep in thought for a few seconds. "I think I get it now," he finally stated, causing Riku and Violet to look at him with confused stares. "That was the Tinker Bell of the past."

"Huh?!" Riku said.

"I thought it was strange how Tinker Bell didn't remember me," Sora explained to the others. "But that was probably because everything we saw must have happened before I knew her. She was just a figment of the dreams."

Riku paused for a moment. "That that means… this was all recorded in the world's heart. They were _memories_ of an earlier time."

"It's like Master Yen Sid told us," Sora continued. "We're in the dream Tinker Bell's world is dreaming. That means this world will _never_ be the same again unless it awakes from sleep."

"That would be correct," Violet confirmed. "Dreams are often based on memories or past experiences."

Both Sora and Riku nodded in agreement. At that precise moment, a bright light stole their attention. Situated high in the sky above was the easily-identifiable shape of a Sleeping Keyhole. Summoning their Keyblades to their hands, both Sora and Riku pointed their weapons straight at the keyhole. As before, a pair of beams of light shone outwards, merged directly in front of the keyhole, and struck it as a single beam. The now-familiar sight of the tunnel of Light formed as the Sleeping Keyhole vanished.

Using their wings for one final flight, both Sora and Riku leapt into the air with Violet following along behind. As they were in mid-air, both Sora and Riku used their wings to venture into the tunnel of Light as Violet caught up with them.

As the tunnel of Light sealed up, Riku recalled his encounter with Ansem, the Seeker of Darkness earlier. He softly told himself, "I know the road my heart walks."

With that, Sora, Riku, and Violet proceeded onward. The Sleeping World of **Pixie Hollow** was now going to be restored to the much-larger world of _**Never Land**_.

* * *

As he continued to look around the cylinder-shaped room, Lea gave a shake of his head. This was exactly what he had not expected Ansem The Wise's study to look like. Books had been thrown from their shelves, diagrams had either fallen or been knocked off the walls, shards of bluish-tinted glass was lying in one spot with four pieces of what clearly had once been two containers of something or other, and abandoned cobwebs were hanging in various places. In the middle of the room, a large, curved desk with a tall, crown-like chair was sitting upright.

As Lea took another look around, a voice said, "What a _**mess**_!"

Lea turned around to spot both Aeleus and Ienzo standing behind him. Aeleus said, "Must have been the Heartless's doing."

Lea rolled his eyes, not believing the simple-minded Heartless would've been capable of creating such a humungous mess. All he could say was, "Right… "

After taking a few more steps into the room, Lea found himself at the desk which had once belonged to the ruler of the world; Lord Ansem. Now, as he wiped his gloved hand across it, all the fiery-red-haired man was collected on it was pure dust. He was amazed. Didn't anyone _ever_ clean this place?

"Both Even and Dilan are currently unstable," Ienzo informed them. "They might be out cold for a while."

Aeleus nodded. "Then that leaves… "

"Braig and _Isa_," Lea interrupted. "I'll give the castle grounds a thorough sweep. For all we know, there's dust gathered out there, too."

As he took a deep breath of air, Lea felt a twitching in his nose. Unable to control it, he unleashed a violent sneeze. A large cloud of dust filled the air.

With a sigh, Ienzo turned to Aeleus. "Looks like we have some serious cleaning to do."

Aeleus nodded in agreement. "I have a feeling I'll be doing **_most_ **of it."

* * *

**A/N: Well, there you have it! Another Sleeping World has been AWAKENED!**

**Some of you probably noticed how similar Pixie Hollow's story was to that of Pinocchio's world in _Kingdom Hearts 3D_. Still, I'd like to mention that any such similarity was NOT intentional - JUST MERE COINCIDENCE!**

**So, here's a HINT for the next world in this story, "DO YOU ALWAYS LET YOUR CONSCIENCE GUIDE YOU?"**

**IF you believe you know what Disney Movie I am referring to, PLEASE POST your answers in the REVIEWS below!**

**Without further ado, PLEASE DON'T LEAVE WITHOUT REVIEWING! THE FATE OF THIS STORY DEPENDS ON IT!**

**This is SoraLego278 saying, "See Ya Later, Keybladers!"**


	12. Ch12 - The Cursed Park

**DISCLAIMER: I OWN NOTHING EXCEPT MY ORIGINAL CHARACTERS!**

**A/N: Whoa! Talk about FAST UPDATING! It had been nearly 24 HOURS or so since I posted Chapter 11, but NOW I have also completed CHAPTER 12, TOO! Yeesh!**

**Well... I suppose it does make sense. After all, the main thing I did all day long was simple TYPE AWAY at this! Yet, I do recall once spending an ENTIRE Saturday typing a different Kingdom Hearts Story I wrote quite some time ago. As a result, I literally had completed about TEN CHAPTERS straight through!**

**Either way, I'd like to request that ALL OF YOU make certain you POST REVIEWS on this story! Even IF you do not have an Account on , you can STILL post ANONYMOUS REVIEWS, TOO! To learn more, Read on to the END of this chapter!**

**Have fun, reading away!**

* * *

**CHAPTER 12  
The Cursed Park**

The voyage through the tunnel of serene, lovely Light lasted a much longer amount of time to complete. Compared to the previous journeys, Sora, Riku, and Violet had ventured through without any issues whatsoever. _This_ time, the trio found themselves drifting through a tunnel rapidly transitioning from the regularly-soothing Light into a tunnel of spooky-looking Darkness.

Being the first to detect such an event unfolding, Sora exclaimed, "What's going _on_?!"

His question was given an answer seconds later. A short distance down the tunnel of terrible Darkness, the group spotted the silhouette of a colossal-sized creature resembling an octopus. Moments later, a massive octopus-shaped being emerged from the shadows. It's eight tentacles were orange-colored while its head was a blood-like shade of dark red.

One glance at the creature was all Violet needed to identify what it was. In a loud, clear voice, the angel declared, "Our path has been intercepted by a _wandering __**Nightmare**_!"

Immediately comprehending what the Angel of Dreams had just stated, Riku summoned his Keyblade. He pointed it directly at the monster ahead, saying, "Looks like we've got a roadblock to remove."

"Yeah! Of course!" Sora agreed, summoning his own Keyblade. "Let's clear the way!"

All Violet did was sit back and watch the pair of Keyblade wielders move in to strike at the Nightmare. The last piece of advice she gave before the battle was, "Strike the _eyes_! That's its weak spot!"

"Got it!" Sora and Riku acknowledged together. They swooped into range of the octopus-shaped creature. Noticing the duo of attackers threatening it, the Nightmare swung four of its tentacles after Riku with the other four chasing Sora.

While Riku managed to avoid getting hit, Sora found himself captured by the tentacles before he could successfully dodge them. Shocked that his best friend had been ensnared by the creature, Riku speedily attempted to charge at the tentacles trapping Sora. Unfortunately, the Nightmare took note of this and sent a series of dark-purple, triangular-shaped crystals after the silver-haired teen. Unable to avoid them all, Riku got shoved backwards after three of the Darkness-filled crystals clobbered him.

As the monster was almost down reeling in its prey, Sora noticed a pair of yellow, translucent, crystal-resembling eyes on the enemy's head. Recalling Violet's information about the eyes being the most-efficient method to bring down the Nightmare, the brown-haired teenager hastily twirled himself in the form of a top. The spinning caused the tentacles to release the Keyblader from within, allowing Sora to continuing spiraling straight into the Nightmare's left eye. With a shrill _**CRASH**_, the crystal-eye had shattered into countless pieces.

Instantly taking into account of being one eye short, the Nightmare desperately tried to seize Sora once again. Fortunately, the latter had already swooped away out of the monster's reach and right to where Riku had witnessed the unexpected move.

"Sora," Riku exclaimed, his eyes in total surprise. "How did you do _that_?!"

"Well," Sora replied. "I figured since Goofy often spins in his attacks, why can't _**I**_ do the same?"

Riku gave a small smile as he shook his head. Even though he hadn't spent nearly as much time with the Captain of Disney Castle's Royal Knights, the silver-haired youth knew the clumsy soldier usually spun around with his shield — especially when it came to eliminating the Heartless and Nobodies. Ironically, Goofy never seemed to get dizzy from such an amount of whirling around in circles. However, Riku also was aware of the fact he could attempt to do something similar to destroy the creature's other eye.

"Watch _**this**_!" Riku shouted as he rushed towards the Nightmare. The enemy spotted him quickly and tried to snatch the Keyblade wielder with six of its tentacles. Nevertheless, Riku proceeded onwards, soaring past each and every swinging tentacles, before approaching the creature's head. As he was just about hovering over the monster's right crystal-eye, the silver-haired teenager hurriedly leaned himself forward. The result was a super-fast spin with Riku's Keyblade just sticking out beyond it.

With moments, the enemy's right eye socket was empty. Riku's twirling attack had allowed his weapon to slash straight into the golden, crystal-like eye — shattering it instantly. Without either of its eyes to guide it, the octopus-shaped Nightmare swam to the edge of the tunnel and vanished without a visible trace.

Returning to where both Sora and Violet were spectating from, Riku gave a large smile. Astounded at viewing such an attack, Sora asked, "Where'd you learn _that_ move, Riku?"

"_**Mickey**_ does it," Riku admitted. "So why can't I?"

Sora simply gave his typical grin, which Riku often thought of as looking either '_silly_', '_goofy_', or even '_stupid_'. Yet, he had _**never**_ used the last term before; it very well could put a damper on their strong bond of friendship. Hence, he had chosen to keep that one to himself.

"Looks like we're almost to the end," Violet called, pointing at the now-returning Light in the tunnel ahead. Both Sora and Riku turned straight ahead where they spotted an opening at the very end of the warmth of the calm, tranquility of the tunnel of Light.

"Here we go," Sora commented. "More worlds are waiting."

"Yeah," Riku affirmed. "Our quest isn't over."

* * *

As the three stepped out from where the tunnel of Light had ended, Sora, Riku, and Violet realized they hadn't been thrown out as they had back in _**Corona**_. The only other reason before was because they had transformed into fairies upon arrival in _**Pixie Hollow**_. However, they had just happened to simply step out of the tunnel of Light without anything happening to them.

Not to mention, they had marched onto a plaza consisting of pink-colored concrete. As they looked from side-to-side, the three noticed a few, tall, bushy-green trees in a wide stretch of green grass. Behind them was an immense, stoned wall with a set of large, wooden doors resembling the style of the interior of a castle. Above their heads was a cloudless sky filled with the twinkling lights of countless stars shining down.

Yet, only Violet and Riku took notice of a few splatters of red, blue, and green-colored paint gradually dripping from where they had somehow splashed onto the whitish stones of the wall. To top it off, the plaza the trio was standing on was littered with sticky gum wrappers, empty popcorn bags, smashed peanut shells, trampled cups once holding soda, all sorts of crumpled candy wrappers (mainly Peanut M&M's and Sour Skittles), snapped cotton-candy sticks, crushed ice-cream cones with a few, melting scoops of various flavors of ice-cream splattered beside them, and even a large amount of half-smoked cigars all strewn about.

Violet gently placed her hand along a railing beside where they were at, only to find the handrail was covered in a large amount of butter. She rapidly removed her hand, now spotting the crushed kernels of extremely-buttered popcorn scattered about with a crumpled, paper bag clearly having been spilled all around.

"_**Yuck!**_" the Angel of Dreams winced at the sight seeing the squishy butter now stuck to her hand. "This place is _so_ disgusting, it's _**intolerable**_!"

"Guess nobody ever _cleans_ it, huh?" Riku smirked. This caused Violet to stare at him with a look of repulse. Thinking quickly, the silver-haired teenager added, "What world is this?"

All the while, Sora had continued to sweep his eyes around the area. As he moved his field of vision to straight ahead, his bluish-colored eyes lit up with excitement. His heart skipped a beat as he exclaimed, "_**Wow!**_"

Perplexed over what Sora had just seen, both Riku and Violet turned into the direction the former was looking; they were immediately impressed by what was before them.

Beyond the small, pink-stoned plaza the group had arrived at was a pair of ramps leading to a snow-white path leading onwards beneath a tall sign overhead. The sign was circus-colored with a clown-shaped head in the middle; the clown's eyes were slowly moving from side-to-side as its mouth opened and closed at the rate the eyes were moving. Beyond it was the unmistakable sight of a variety of rides, including: a large, lime-green-colored Ferris Wheel, a medium-sized, orange-and-green-colored Carousel with white horses and a peaked roof, the long, pink-and-sea-blue-colored track of a Roller Coaster constructed upon a series of towers, a smaller section containing a large, grey-stoned Mansion, and even another secluded section containing a tall, gangster-like figure holding a club with a cigar in its mouth. All around the vicinity were lampposts lighting up the nightly air.

Still looking with impressed expressions on their faces, Sora, Riku, and Violet all knew they had marched out into the entranceway of some Amusement Park. They had arrived in the Sleeping World of the **Rascal's Dreamland**.**

Still overly-thrilled about entering a Theme Park, Sora leapt forwards and began skipping ahead with a cry of, "_**Yahoo!**_ _**Hooray!**_"

All Riku did was shake his head while Violet slapped her clean hand upon her face in disbelief. Based on what they had just witnessed, it would be quite a challenge to distinguish Sora from a care-free boy.

This was definitely not a surprise to Riku. There were still those various times when Sora would sometimes behave like he was nothing more than a simple-minded toddler. Talk about strange! Finally, Kairi's persistence that she would no longer have the capability to handle Sora if he continued to refuse to "act his age" was enough to force Sora to reform and mature. Still, there were some moments when the brown-haired Keyblader would automatically behave in such a childish manner. This was most-certainly one of those times.

After Sora had been on the verge of sprinting down the ramp, a voice hollered, "Now, just a minute there! You shouldn't _be_ here, young man!"

The instant the shout had registered in their ears, the second both Sora and Riku believed they had heard it from somewhere else. Only Violet was completely in the dark as she didn't recognize the voice — at all; it was totally foreign to her.

As he speedily swept his eyes around the immediate area, Sora spotted a figure standing on the stone rail to his right. The figure was a small, green cricket wearing a suit, a shiny top hat, blue shoes, and carrying a red umbrella with a golden handle. Noticing the cricket was glaring at him, Sora exclaimed, "_**Jiminy**_? Is that _you_?"

The exact instant the Keyblade wielder had spoken, both Riku and Violet walked up to him and spotted the same cricket Sora had previously noticed.

Jiminy's glare disappeared. "You mean you've _heard_ of me?" he declared. "Well I'll be! The name 'Jiminy Cricket' has spread far and wide."

"Are you feeling alright?" Sora inquired. "It's _me_, Sora!"

"'Sora', you say?" Jiminy responded. "Gee, I don't think I recognize ya, but your name does give a familiar ring."

"You _know_ him?" Violet questioned, astonished by the idea of Sora knowing the name of a cricket compared to anything else.

Before Sora could reply, Riku spoke up, "Jiminy was the one who wrote down everything that happened during Sora's previous adventures. He kept them in a book called, _The Jiminy Memo_."

Violet folded her arms in thought. "While that seems to make sense, I cannot picture one of Sora's friends being a cricket."

Riku shook his head. "You don't know Sora like I do. He'll try to befriend anyone he can — even a _total __**stranger**_!"

Out of the blue, Sora looked up after pondered for a few minutes or so. "The real Jiminy isn't trapped in this world," he finally concluded. "So the dreams are putting him back where he belongs?"

With a deep sigh, Sora muttered, "Now I _really_ don't get it!"

Both Violet and Riku looked at one another before turning back to Sora.

"Could this be like Tinker Bell?" Riku suggested.

"There's still the possibility," Violet added. "You never know!"

"What's that? I can't hear ya!" The pair of Keyblade wielders and the angel all looked down to where Jiminy Cricket was awaiting a response.

In a calm voice, Sora smiled. "It's nice to meet you, Jiminy!"

"The feeling's mutual, Sora!" Jiminy agreed before gesturing to Riku and Violet. "Are they your friends?"

"Of course!" Sora affirmed. "That's my best friend, Riku, and the Angel of Dreams, Violet."

"Well now," Jiminy complemented. "The three of you look like _**True**__ Friends_."

Both Riku and Violet nodded in turn. Sora asked, "So, why'd you tell us to get out of here?"

Jiminy thought for a quick minute, pacing around in circles right where he had been. After he stopped, the cricket whirled his attention back to Sora, Riku, and Violet. "This is a _**terrible**_ place," Jiminy began. "Boys here are allowed to _wreck_ things, _loaf_ around, _throw_ trash, and simply make _**jackasses**_ of themselves!"

Sora's eyes lit up in bewilderment. "What's a 'jackass'?"

Riku shook his head. "It's another name for a _donkey_."

Sora gave a smirked nod in return. "Right! I knew that!"

"Sure you did," Violet teased. "After Riku _told_ you."

Sora crossed his arms in a pouting stance. He continued to listen with the others as Jiminy proceeded to explain, "And poor, lost _**Pinocchio**_ — he wandered into Pleasure Island on _my_ watch!"

"This place is 'Pleasure Island'?" Riku questioned.

Sora nodded as he placed his hands behind his head and smiled. "What else would it be called? '_Cursed_ Island'?"

"Well it does _sound_ like a cursed park!" Violet stated.

All of a sudden, Jiminy whirled his focus to where Sora was standing. "_That_ must be where I heard your name, Sora — from my friend, Pinoke!"

Sora was shocked; Riku and Violet were baffled. How had Pinocchio learned about Sora's identity?

"He _knows_ me?!" Sora exclaimed. "But… _**how**_?!"

At that precise instant, the charm on Violet's necklace began glowing. Seeing it, everyone awed in amazement — especially Jiminy Cricket; he had never seen such a thing before in his life.

"Must be a flashback?" Riku asked.

Violet nodded. "It might reveal how this 'Pinocchio' learned Sora's name."

Like the previous two times, the charm sent out a beam of Light forming a giant projection upon a blank section of the wall. As the fuzziness of the image came into focus, the group could clearly make out a small, wooden puppet standing within a golden bird-cage. The puppet had blue eyes, four fingers on each of his hands with white gloves, a large yellow hat, a pair of crimson-red shoes, a blue bowtie, red overalls sporting yellow buttons, and a black vest. On one of the cage bars was the obvious figure of Jiminy Cricket scowling.

* * *

_"Pinocchio," Jiminy Cricket scolded with an angry look on his face. "You **naughty **boy! You were supposed to be in school — **not **playing all the way out here!"_

_The puppet seemed sad. "I'm sorry, Jiminy," it said. "I was going to school, when I met somebody. Two big monsters… with big, green eyes!"_

_The second the words had escaped his lips, the length of Pinocchio's nose grew, startling the little puppet._

_"You don't say," Jiminy interrogated. "And **then **what happened?"_

_After a brief pause, Pinocchio answered, "They tied me in a big sack!"_

_As Pinocchio's nose grew another few inches, Jiminy's scowl deepened. "Uh-huh? So **why **didn't you yell for help?"_

_"I couldn't," Pinocchio replied. "They chopped me into firewood!"_

_With such a tall tale, Pinocchio's nose extended to such a length it resembled a branch. To top it off, a small, yellow bird's nest had appeared on the end of it with two small blue-birds inside. Since the nose reached out beyond the cage, Jiminy had hopped onto it. Pinocchio was flabbergasted. "What… what _**happened**_?!" he exclaimed._

_"See?!" Jiminy lectured. "**That's **where all those lies get you!"_

_"But it's all **true**," Pinocchio insisted. "Even the part where the two men in black said they wanted to play tricks on Sora and Riku!"_

_"_**What?!**_" Jiminy exclaimed. "I've had just about enough of your fibbing!"_

_When he took note of how the puppet's nose had failed to grow, Jiminy realized the little, wooden boy had been honest for a change. Thus, he whirled around with a smile forming on his face. "Say Pinoke," the cricket inquired. "Did those fellas say anything else to ya?"_

_"Nope!" Pinocchio admitted. "They sure didn't! They just… **disappeared**!"_

_Jiminy let out a sigh of relief. "Well, at least nothing **bad **happened to you."_

_At that exact moment, one of the stars twinkling in the sky far above came fluttering down. "Hey," Jiminy exclaimed. "It's that star again! I mean — **The Blue Fairy**!"_

_Within ten seconds, the star had descended upon the duo at the cage. It calmly transformed into a blonde-haired, blue-eyed, woman wearing a glittery-blue dress with transparent sleeves, a blue hairband, and blue high-heels. She also had large, silver-shaded wings on her back and a magic wand in her right hand._

_"Why Pinocchio," the Blue Fairy exclaimed. "What happened to you?!"_

_The Blue Fairy turned to face Jiminy Cricket. "Sir Jiminy?"_

_"Well," Jiminy sputtered. "Your Honor, Your Majesty, Your—"_

_"Oh, _**please **_forgive me!" Pinocchio suddenly wept. "I'm **awful **sorry!"_

_"Pinocchio," the Blue Fairy stated. "A lie grows and grows until it's as plain as the nose on your face."_

_"I'll _**never** _lie again!" Pinocchio begged. "_**Honest**_, I won't!"_

_After a few moments of pause, the Blue Fairy said, "Very well, I'll forgive you this once. But remember, 'a boy who **won't **be good, might as well be made of wood'."_

_"We'll be good!" Both Jiminy and Pinocchio acknowledged on cue. "Won't we?"_

_"Yes," the Blue Fairy confirmed. "But this will be the _**last** _time I can help you."_

* * *

As the projection vanished, both Sora and Riku groaned in discouragement. If what Pinocchio had claimed was true — and they _knew_ it was since his nose hadn't grown — two strangers wearing black-hooded coats were plotting some type of trick to unleash upon the duo of Keyblade wielders. Whatever kind of trick they had up their sleeve was yet unknown.

"That guy again," Sora sighed.

Riku nodded. "Sounds like he isn't working alone _this_ time."

"Still," Violet indicated. "The _point_ is he's back. For all we know, he could very likely be trying to hold Pinocchio captive."

"But whoever the _other_ guy is," Sora muttered. "We have no idea what he'll be up to. He could be planning something even _worse_."

Both Riku and Violet paused in contemplation for a few minutes. After they had finished, Violet said, "If Pinocchio is still unaccounted for, perhaps we should try tracking him down first?"

"Yeah," Riku agreed. "I was thinking the same thing."

"We'd better _hurry_," Jiminy informed the group. "If we don't find him soon, Pinoke will turn into a _**donkey**_ — just like the rest of the boys who played here too long!"

"A _donkey_," Riku quizzed. "How can a human boy turn into a donkey?"

"By playing here too long," Jiminy explained. "Or so the 'Legend of the Curse of Pleasure Island' goes."

"If that's all true," Sora summarized. "Then let us help you find Pinocchio, Jiminy."

"You mean you'd really help me?!" Jiminy exclaimed. "I'd be so grateful! But, how in the world do you three know Pinocchio?"

With such an almost-impossible-to-explain-without-causing-too-m uch-confusion query posed upon them, Sora, Riku, and Violet froze, unsure what to say. At that exact second, Sora's eyes wandered ahead where he spotted a figure resembling the wooden puppet of Pinocchio strolling around near the park's Midway. He pointed them out. "Over there," the brown, spikey-haired youth proclaimed. "I see him!"

As everyone turned to see what Sora had noticed, Jiminy exclaimed, "Golly! That is Pinoke!"

"Let's go get him." Riku spoke up.

"All aboard, Jiminy!" Sora announced.

"Take it away!" Jiminy replied, hopping from the railing to Sora's right shoulder. Knowing the little cricket had the ability to remain perched on someone's shoulder without losing his balance, Sora, Riku, and Violet all took off running for the plaza located in the park's Midway.

* * *

The plaza making up the heart of Pleasure Island's Midway turned out to have a circular-shaped garden of rainbow-colored flowers and a fountain at the center. The statue at the middle of the marble fountain had been damaged and it was impossible to make out what it had once been due to said destruction. An entire circle of lampposts were surrounding the plaza, though all but two of them were shining down. The two which weren't shining had had their light-bulbs taken and the tops of them were shattered. Littered all over the orange-colored stone on the plaza was the clear sign of n unsanitary environment within the park's setting.

It was right beside the garden where the group found Pinocchio standing — his back turned towards them.

"Pinocchio," Jiminy expressed. "_There_ you are!"

"Pinocchio," Sora spoke up. "It's not safe for you here!"

"Yeah," Riku agreed. "You need to go back to—"

At that instant, the puppet whirled around, transforming into a half-jester half-ghost creature. The monster's jester-crown was decorated with yellow and blue stripes, its body was a lighter shade of red, and the tongue it was sticking out of its mouth was a deep orange. One look at it and everyone nearly leaped from sudden startle.

"A _**Nightmare**_?!" Violet recognized. Less than a minute later, an entire group of panda-like creatures with yellow claws, red bodies, and orange faces spontaneously appeared out of thin air.

Noticing the enemies were on the verge of surrounding the group, Sora summoned his Keyblade. "Only one way to solve _this_ problem!"

"Yeah!" Riku confirmed, summoning his own Keyblade.

The pair of Keyblade wielders zoomed into the horde of monsters and hastily began slashing, slamming, and slicing their weapons through each of the enemies. At one point, one of the panda-resembling Nightmares charged forwards to shove the pair of teenagers aside. Realizing this was about to occur, Sora leapt into the air a few inches before sliding through mid-air straight into the creature. The result was a blur of movement as Sora orbited the monster before yelling, "It's _over_!"

With this battle cry, Sora suddenly hurled the creature straight at one of the lampposts. The instant the monster collided with the light fixture, the second the impact had obliterated it from existence. Fortunately, that had been the last of the enemies. As both Sora and Riku put their Keyblades away, Riku was awestruck.

"_**Sora**_," a startled Riku exclaimed. "_What_ did you—"

"Those Nightmares were pretending to be Pinocchio," Sora blurted, cutting off Riku from finishing his sentence. "So, where's the _real_ Pinoke?"

"Sora," Jiminy called out. "Up there!"

Turning to look where the small, green cricket was gesturing towards, the brown-haired teenager was able to identify a figure who strongly-resembled Pinocchio situated inside one of the darker-green cars revolving around the Ferris Wheel. The car the puppet was sitting in was currently reaching the peak of the ride. Moments before Sora could act, Violet called, "He's over there!"

The angel was pointing directly at another figure who also looked just like Pinocchio standing on the second-floor balcony of the large Mansion. It wasn't long before Riku spotted another figure with the exact, same appearance of Pinocchio pacing around in the section with the club-wielding gangster smoking the cigar.

After Sora himself had noticed another figure who looked just like Pinocchio riding inside one of the trains on the park's Roller Coaster, the teenage Keyblader had to place his hands upon his head. For all he knew, everything taken place was now becoming a complete illusion. When he glanced back at the trains on the Roller Coaster, the figure was gone — clearly it had been a simple hallucination.

"If we're to find the _real_ Pinocchio," Sora began. "We'll need to split up and track each one separately."

"Yeah," Riku agreed. "We'll cover more ground that way."

Violet nodded in turn. "One of them has to be him, correct?"

"Of course!" Sora acknowledged.

Believing time was steadily running out before Pinocchio would start transforming into a donkey, the three split up to search each place. Sora hurried straight for the Ferris Wheel with Jiminy Cricket still perched upon his shoulder. Riku rapidly sprinted in the direction of the gangster-shaped figure. Violet quickly took to the air to reach the Mansion's second-floor balcony.

Still, every one of them had the slight sensation most of these Pinocchio-resembling figures were Nightmares disguised as the little, wooden puppet they needed to track down.

* * *

**A/N: BOOM! CHAK-A-LAK-A-LAK-A! BOOM! CHAK-A-LAK-A-LAK-A! BOOM! That's Chapter 12!**

**So, in case you failed to noticed (probably NOT), this world [Rascal's Dreamland] is based upon the Disney Movie, _Pinocchio (1940)_.  
Hence, IF any of you had noticed the term "Jackass", keep in mind that was the actual word used in the movie.**

**As it is, IF you're still wondering HOW to post Anonymous Reviews, Here's a quick STEP-BY-STEP Guide to help You out!**

**(1.) Click in the TEXT BOX at the bottom of the screen.**

**(2.) Type whatever you want to say in your Review. (My ONLY request is you keep out ANY AND ALL FORMS OF PROFANITY!)**

**(3.) Click on the "POST" button to submit your Review. You May Even Have To Optional Choice To Add A Made-Up Name To It. Otherwise, your Review will be labeled as "GUEST".**

**(4.) You're finished with the Learning Process. Go ahead and try it out for yourself!**

**Either way, I'll just state "The Usual"; ****PLEASE DON'T LEAVE WITHOUT REVIEWING! THE FATE OF THIS STORY DEPENDS ON IT!**

**This is SoraLego278 saying, "See Ya Later, Keybladers!"**

* * *

**** "RASCAL'S DREAMLAND" Is MY Version of "PRANKSTER'S PARADISE"!**


	13. Ch13 - Tricks of The Darkness

**DISCLAIMER: I OWN NOTHING EXCEPT MY ORIGINAL CHARACTERS!**

**A/N: WELCOME BACK! Just so you know, here comes another "DARK-LIKE" Chapter!**

**I hope you enjoy it!**

**To respond to your question, _Digimonking99_, in _Kingdom Hearts 3D_, they used the term "Jack-A-Mules" instead of "Jackass". Even so, I often prefer to stick much-more closely to that of the Disney-based Movies I incorporate in any KH Fan-Fiction I choose to write.**

**So, without further ado, here is 'LUCKY THIRTEEN'! (Yet, I personally am NOT Superstitious!)**

* * *

**CHAPTER 13  
Tricks of The Darkness**

Although it hadn't taken too long to arrive at the boarding platform for the Ferris Wheel, both Sora and Jiminy Cricket had to patiently wait for several minutes as the car containing the Pinocchio-resembling figure to reach the station. Seeing as the ride was moving at what felt like a snail's pace, Sora folded his arms and soon began tapping his right foot at a steady beat. Normally, this was how the Keyblade wielder could handle long waiting periods, which _wasn't_ exactly his 'strong suit'.

Finally, after what seemed to have been seven hours (it was actually seven minutes) the car came to a stop at the platform. Not wanting to let it proceed without them, Sora leaped into the carriage with Jiminy still perched upon his shoulder. The two turned to face the puppet already inside.

"Gee Pinoke," a puzzled Jiminy said. "How'd you get on here all by yourself?"

"C'mon," Sora added. "Let's get you and Jiminy home."

A mere second after the words had left Sora's mouth, the puppet in the carriage swiftly transformed into another half-jester half-ghost creature. Startled, the brown, spikey-haired youth nearly jumped backward. Fortunately, he had already taken into account that the car was approaching the top of the Ferris Wheel. If he had jumped back in shock, the Keyblader might have fallen out of the carriage altogether.

Without wasting a single moment, Sora summoned his Keyblade and sliced its blade straight into the monster. The sole hit had been enough to vanquish the Nightmare in a matter of seconds. After it had disappeared into the usual bunch of transparent bubbles, Sora calmly put his Keyblade away.

"Another **_imposter_**!" Jiminy sighed in defeat.

Sora instantly noticed the cricket's behavior. "Don't give up yet, Jiminy," the Keyblade wielding teenager encouraged. "I'm certain we'll find Pinocchio before you realize it!"

* * *

As Violet gradually descended onto the second-floor balcony of the large, grey-stoned Mansion, her face rapidly turned into an expression of agitation and revulsion. Almost the entire rectangular-shaped balcony was littered with carelessly-thrown popcorn bags, smashed gum wrappers, and a large amount of abandoned half-smoked cigars. As the angel cautiously set foot on a supposedly less-cluttered section of the balcony, the sounds of a _**CRUNCH—CRUNCH**_ instantly made her freeze in place. Holding her breath, the angel looked down and was unable to believe what she saw. There were translucent-colored shards of broken glass lying around directly where she stood. To top it off, she had already stepped upon two of the shattered pieces. Quickly whirling her eyes around to discover where all the shards of glass had originated from, Violet noticed a square-shaped window to her left. At least, it appeared to have been a window; a few crookedly-shaped pieces of glass were still stuck on its edges.

Now curious about what kind of place this Mansion really was, the angel proceeded to carefully sneak over to a doorway, though only one of the two, wooden doors remained. The other had been knocked off its hinges and snapped in half on the balcony. The other wooden door had been painted all over with a messy-looking mixture of colors; the outcome was a combination of dark brown, a deep, dark shade of violet, and a deep shade of black.

As Violet peered into the room beyond, her heart skipped a few beats; she was astounded beyond belief. Before her eyes was a large, golden-colored foyer with a curved staircase leading downstairs. However, the entire area was covered in all sorts of littered trash, broken furniture, muddy footprints, and even countless cigars having been tossed around mindlessly. The remains of what had clearly once been a shining, silver chandelier was hanging from the ceiling overhead. As several of its bulbs and arms had been ripped off, the light fixture had been damaged beyond all possible repair.

As she stepped into the room, a sign on the wall directly opposite the second floor caught her eye. As she carefully read it to herself, the angel was speechless.

**PLEASURE ISLAND  
**"**HOUSE OF DESTRUCTION"**

What a complete surprise for Violet. She had ventured into some place labeled the "House of Destruction". No wonder the whole Mansion was in shambles. It was allowed to be that way.

As Violet took extra precautions in heading down the staircase, the remains of an oval-shaped mirror to her right seized her focus for a brief second. It was impossible to see a reflection within it; the glass had been totally destroyed and was missing.

Now, as the Angel of Dreams arrived at the ground floor of the Mansion, she spotted the Pinocchio-like puppet standing beside the ruins of a grand piano having been chopped into piece by a decent-sized axe stuck into it. After cautiously traversing the room, Violet was able to get the puppet's attention.

"Pinocchio," she said. "This place is too dangerous for _anyone_ to explore! Let's go find—"

The angel froze mid-sentence; the puppet had transformed into a half-jester half-ghost monster. Unable to response, Violet just stood with her hands over her face; her eyes were wide with shock. The figure had been a Nightmare in disguise.

As the enemy charged, the angel leaped off to the side before it could harm her. Spotting the axe still situated in the remains of the piano, Violet grabbed its handle and tried to pull it out. Unfortunately, the axe's blade had been inserted too deep and broke clear off the handle.

The Angel of Dreams was both baffled and terrified alike. Her weapon-of-choice was no longer useful, and the Nightmare was about to attack. Desperately sweeping her eyes across the entire length of the foyer, Violet spotted the broken mirror still hanging on the wall of the staircase. In the wink of an eye, she had zoomed over to it and plucked it off the wall. She gasped in realization; the mirror's froze was too smooth to deal any harm to the creature.

Now seeing the Nightmare bouncing around to the center of the foyer below, Violet glanced upward and took notice of how the ruined chandelier was hanging from the ceiling by a weak piece of rope. Assuming the mirror could have the potential to break the rope, the angel tossed the item into the air in the same form as one who traditionally throw a Frisbee. As expected, the mirror had picked up plenty of momentum to spin fast enough as it sliced straight through the rope.

With a gigantic, obnoxious _**CRASH**_, the chandelier slammed into the floor, completely destroying it as well as crushing the Nightmare into a small bunch of quickly popping bubbles. Violet let out a deep sigh of relief. The monster pursuing her had been terminated. Yet, that still meant the real Pinocchio was somewhere else. Knowing time would be running out before the little, wooden boy would start the transformation into a donkey, the Angel of Dreams took to the air and hurriedly swooped out the gap in the second-floor doorway and into the nightly air.

* * *

By the time Riku had arrived at his destination, the silver-haired teenager had knelt down to catch his breath. Since he wasn't used to sprinting so fast, he was now wheezing, coughing, and gasping for fresh air. After wiping some sweat from his forehead, the Keyblade wielder turned his focus upwards.

As he had presumed, he was directly in front of the gangster-like statue. The figure was dressed from head-to-toe in black clothing with a cigar situated in his mouth. His face gave the immediate impression of fury as he was also holding a large, brown club in his right hand. Noticing a sigh beside the statue, Riku learned what the attraction was called.

**PLEASURE ISLAND  
**"**ROUGH-HOUSE"**

For a few moments, the silver-haired teen was mystified why any type of Amusement Park would have anything as violent as a "Rough-House". Obviously such places would be intended for unneeded fist-fighting, punching, shoving, pushing, tripping, and everything else involved with such unnecessary quarreling. Such outcomes would most-likely be unwanted injuries — _especially_ broken arms and bloody noses alike.

Recalling how Jiminy had claimed the park was designed to allow young boys to cause such chaos, Riku realized this was definitely just a location specifically meant for out-of-control misbehaving. Still, the very concept of actually having seen such an attraction was mind-boggling for the Keyblader. Who would ever believe him if he told anyone else about it?

Willing pushing the thoughts from his mind, Riku marched straight underneath the statue's legs, which had been stretched out to form an arch-shaped entrance for the location. Inside, however, was nothing more than a simple, sand-filled basin covered with all shapes and sizes of footprints. Based on the large number of different prints he saw, Riku concluded the spot was an extremely popular place for the young boys who had previously been there.

As he turned to his right, the silver-haired Keyblade wielder spotted the Pinocchio-resembling figure standing on the opposite side of the lot. After strolling up to the puppet, Riku was able to grab its attention.

"Pinocchio," the Keyblade-Master-In-Training spoke up. "I'm here to take you to—"

The very instant the puppet had transformed into a half-jester half-ghost creature, the exact second Riku had halted mid-sentence to summon his Keyblade. It was barely thirty seconds after the monster had revealed itself when Riku had vanquished the Nightmare, causing a flurry of bubbles to burst from its place.

Relieved he had removed an imposter, Riku simply put his Keyblade away before venturing out of the attraction. Sure he had eliminated another fake from causing mayhem, but this meant the real Pinocchio was still out there someplace else.

* * *

Almost an hour had gone by after Sora, Riku, and Violet had split up to track down Pinocchio. Now, they were just returning back to where they had started from — the park's Midway. The first to arrive was Riku, though Sora and Jiminy were only moments behind. Flying into the plaza, was the last arrival, Violet.

It wasn't long before everyone had shared their experiences. While Sora had spoken about how startled he was upon finding the Nightmare on the Ferris Wheel, Violet had explained her encounter with the monster back in the Mansion, and Riku had informed them about his short fight in the sand-basin.

After having heard all these separate accounts, Jiminy sighed. "But where's the _**real**_ Pinoke?" the cricket complained.

"No idea," Sora confessed. "He could be _anywhere_ by now."

"Or he's already become a donkey," Riku suggested.

"_**No way**_," Violet disagreed. "I'm _certain_ he's still a puppet!"

"Hey," Riku retaliated. "I was being a little sarcastic!"

"This is _not_ the time to be stupid," the angel argued. "Time is of the essence!"

"'_**Stupid**_'?!" the silver-haired youth declared, most-certainly having taken the comment as an insult. "The only one who usually is 'stupid' is _**Sora**_!"

With the accusation aimed at him, Sora snarled, "So what?! _**You're**_ the one who can't handle his own Darkness!"

Before long, the trio of Sora, Riku, and Violet were engulfed in a heated storm of insults, accusations, put-downs, and total misunderstandings. Speculating the whole debate, Jiminy scratched the side of his head with a look of bewilderment. How had such an argument originated by a random piece of sarcasm?

"Y'know," the cricket called out. "Pinoke is out there somewhere and you're all just sticking around _quarreling_ with each other!"

The instant the cricket's voice had entered their ears, the two Keyblade wielders and the angel came to an abrupt silence in their words. Knowing how pointless the whole argument had been, they all felt downright humiliation.

"Jiminy's right," Sora spoke up after a few minutes of silence had ended. "We're wasting time. Pinocchio is _**still**_ out there!"

"Yet," Violet informed the others. "We've run out of places to search for him."

"Yeah," Riku agreed. "Where else could he be?"

At that precise moment, a scream echoed into the air around the them — flooding their ears in record time.

"Help me!" it cried. "Jiminy! Help me!"

The whole group nearly jumped into the air with the sensation as though one had just been startled. Their eyes were wide and alert, their arms had swung out in syndication with their feet, their mouths were agape, and they were swiftly whirling around with their eyes sweeping all across the terrain surrounding the Midway of Pleasure Island.

"What was _**that**_?!" Violet exclaimed in a state of total shock.

"I'd know that voice anywhere," Jiminy replied in recognition. "It's _Pinoke_ — calling for _**help**_!"

"But, where'd it come from?" Sora questioned.

Riku spun around and his eyes lit up as he exclaimed, "He must be in there!"

Turning their focus into the direction Riku was pointing in, Sora, Violet, and Jiminy all took into account of a small building they had somehow missed entirely during their earlier searches. The building was in the exact shape of a ball normally seen when playing on a billiard table. In fact, the design of it was an almost-perfect replica of an "8-Ball"; the shade was slightly darker although it still had the numeral "8" painted on it within a circle in an identical shade of white as the number was. Below where the circled number was situated was a small doorway containing two wooden doors resembling the entranceway into how a saloon supposedly looked back in the days of the American Gold Rush.

Also making out a faint orange-colored light shining from inside, Violet asked, "You sure he's inside?"

"Yeah," Riku confirmed. "Besides, there's nowhere else to look."

Sora gave a nod of understanding. "Let's check it out!" he declared, dashing over to the tiny doorway. Jiminy leaped onto Riku's shoulder before the silver-haired Keyblader followed along. As usual, Violet was the last one in line.

* * *

The instant he had reached the entranceway, Sora hastily flung open the doors and stepped inside. In a state of complete astonishment, the brown-haired teenager had remained in place when both Violet and Riku (with Jiminy, of course) came darting inside and rammed straight into him. The impact had been more than enough to cause them all to fall onto the black-and-white tiled floor of the structure. Foreseeing such a crash on the verge of occurring, Jiminy had leapt from his place upon Riku's shoulder and used his now-open umbrella to land safely out of the way.

It took a few moments for the three to get off the floor, which Violet instantly realized was covered in half-smoked cigars, tossed playing cards, empty mugs typically used for everything stronger than cider, and red, white, blue, and yellow-colored chips usually in the design of how they would appear inside the gambling areas of a casino.

As he took a super-fast sweep of the room, Sora spotted a puppet-like figure crouching beneath a circular-wooden table on the opposite side of the room; a total of three, wooden chairs and one three-legged stool were lying sideways next to it, though the stool was still upright. The teenage Keyblade wielder did not even have to ponder over why the young puppet had terror inscribed all over his facial expression. As fate would have it, the answer was currently on the same side of the room, the crushed splinters of what had once been another wooden, circular table and a pair of matching chairs; a humungous lobster-like creature had previously trampled over it. The monster's claws and six feet were a bright reddish color, its body and shell were a dark, creamy-like color, and its curved tail holding its stinger was a deep shade of orange.

One glance at the creature was beyond extra for Riku. With a terrified stare in his eyes, the silver-haired Keyblade wielder proclaimed, "It's a _Nightmare_!"

After taking a look at the monster, Jiminy was appalled beyond shock. "Oh my stars _above_!" the cricket exclaimed. "We've got to do something!"

"Leave it to me!" Violet declared, courageously stepping out from the others. Taken note of how low the ceiling was, she realized there wouldn't be enough space to fly. It was time for the Angel of Dreams to improvise her strategy — _fast_.

Determined to make the most of each second, the angel carefully conducted a rapid, perfectly-done somersault underneath the billiard table. After three consecutive rolls, she had arrived at the other end and timed her movements to avoid the enemy's pinching claws and occasionally-striking stinger. Fortunately, she had made it safely across the large, circular room and immediately scooped up Pinocchio from his hiding place.

Well aware of a possible swipe from the Nightmare behind her, Violet proceeded with extreme caution (she was carrying the little puppet in both of her arms) as she had to frequently leap or sway to dodge the lobster-shaped monster's attacks. Having previously decided to go around the billiard table at the center of the room, the angel was able to quickly get out of range from the enemy's attempts to snatch her.

After what Violet thought was two hours — rather than two minutes — she had successfully rejoined the spot where the others had been awaiting her. After gently placing Pinocchio onto his feet, the angel's heart skipped two beats in a row. Noticing the same thing, both Riku and Sora were speechless.

Being the only one to speak, Jiminy exclaimed, "_**Pinocchio**_!"

The very sight of the little, wooden puppet would have most-certainly made any other eyewitnesses temporarily lose the capability to move a muscle. Sticking out of the sides of Pinocchio's head, directly in place of where his ears should have been, was the unmistakable form of light-grey, pointed ears; their shape gave a close resemblance to how Sora remembered Pooh's friend, Rabbit's ears had appeared. Yet, Pinocchio had also sprouted a tail in the seat of his red shorts; ironically, its shape seemed really close to how Sora had seen the easy-to-lose tail of the donkey, Eeyore. The truth was now in plain sight — Pinocchio was already in the process of transforming into a donkey.

"_**Jiminy**_!" a terror-stricken Pinocchio shouted. "_**Help**_! Lampwick turned into the _**monster**_!"

"Who's 'Lampwick'?" a puzzled Sora inquired.

Pinocchio's face was beginning to turn pale. "He was my _best __**friend**_!"

"Look Pinocchio," Violet spoke up. "Until we get rid of that creature, you and Jiminy should head outside and wait for us."

"Okay!" Pinocchio acknowledged. Once Jiminy had hopped onto the puppet's shoulder, the pair rushed out the entrance doors.

Being the only ones left in the room, Sora, Riku, and Violet all spun their attention towards the lobster-shaped Nightmare watching from the other side of the billiard table. Instinctively reacting, both Sora and Riku summoned their Keyblades, poised to attack or defend on a moment's notice. Violet was about to step forward when the Nightmare reached its claws out and seized the billiard table — ripping it from where it had been securely positioned on the floor. With a huge amount of strength, the enemy threw the table aimed at the duo of Keybladers challenging it. Fearful about such an unexpected attack, the two teens raised their weapons in a desperate attempt to significantly nullify the impact. The instant the table collided with their Keyblades, the second it snapped into several pieces, which the Keyblade wielders countered by knocking back into the direction of the monster. The majority of the broken pieces hit their target, but the creature was able to avoid a few of them.

Frantic about the possibility of another such assault being launched, Violet marched forwards, raised her right hand towards the Nightmare, and yelled, "The game is _yours_, Flippers!"

Like an instant answer, a seal appeared in front of the angel's outstretched hand. The creature's skin was a slight-shade of grey, though it was sporting a green, blue, and red-striped swimsuit covering much of its body. Without waiting for anything, Flippers tossed a six-sided die into the air, the result was a side bearing a piece of ice. In seconds, a chunk of ice magically appeared directly above the Nightmare's head before crashing down onto its target.

As Flippers continued to attack using the various magical spells upon its single die, Sora and Riku were busy clobbering the enemy with a series of slashing, slicing, and stabbing with their Keyblades. After a few minutes of the nonstop action, the monster had been so badly injured it collapsed before exploding into a flurry of transparent bubbles. It didn't take much time for the bubbles to pop one-by-one as they hit the now-streaked floor.

Believing they had been victorious, Sora and Riku put their weapons away while Violet called Flippers back over, upon which the seal-resembling creature vanished. However, as the trio was about to march outside, the sound of a gust of wind seized their attention. Spinning around to learn whatever was occurring, the three found themselves face-to-face with the now-familiar face of the strange man in the black-hooded coat. Rather than speak, the man simply smiled as another figure stepped out of a dark portal behind the strange man in black.

Both Sora and Riku were nearly speechless. The figure was not only wearing the same outfit as Organization XIII had, but it had amber eyes, dark-tanned skin, and long, silver hair with some of it hanging around its shoulders, too. There was just one person the two could think of who matched every last one of these descriptions.

"_**Xemnas**_?!" Sora exclaimed, re-summoning his Keyblade. "This is **_impossible_**!"

"You're not even supposed to _be_ here!" Riku agreed, re-summoning his own Keyblade.

"You both _know_ him, too?!" a surprised Violet asked.

"You bet," Riku explained. "Xemnas was the leader of Organization XIII — _Xehanort's __**Nobody**_!"

With a smile showing upon his lips, Xemnas said, "My, my! A hollow puppet that's managed to grow a heart. Just imagine _that_!"

"A '_puppet_'?!" Violet exclaimed.

"Pinocchio's isn't _**anything**_ like you, Nobodies!" Sora retaliated. After a brief pause, the brown-haired Keyblade wielder spoke again. "But if Pinocchio could be given one, shouldn't _you_ be able to have a heart inside you, too?"

For a couple seconds, Xemnas gave a hint of what seemed to be imitating laughter. "Maybe so," he responded. "But, do not forget, Sora — you are not so '_different_' from us!"

A moment later, another dark portal appeared, allowing both Xemnas and the strange man to proceed inside. After the pair had departed, Sora looked down.

"Sora?" Violet asked, noticing this atypical reaction.

"How am I _anything_ like a Nobody?" Sora muttered aloud. "That doesn't make any sense."

"Must be some kind of trick," Riku supposed.

Both Violet and Sora gave slight nods in turn. All at once, the trio spotted Jiminy hopping straight for them. The little cricket was frantic. "_**Help**_!" he shouted. "Pinoke's been _**kidnapped**_ by a stranger in a black coat!"

"_**What**_?!" the entire group exclaimed in shock. Based on what Jiminy had just told them, it sounded like the puppet had been snatched by another guy in a black-hooded coat. Certain this 'kidnapper' was up to no good, the three swiftly agreed to help Jiminy track the two down.

* * *

It was barely four minutes after Sora, Riku, and Violet had left the building (Jiminy was perched upon Violet's shoulder) when they caught up with a black-hooded figure walking along, dragging a struggling Pinocchio behind. As it turned out to be, the group had approached the plaza at the entrance to the park.

"Hey!" Sora snapped at the figure. "Let Pinocchio _go_!"

Turning around to face the new arrivals, the group noticed how the figure's face was perfectly concealed by his hood. Instantly after turning, the figure hastily released its grip on its captive, allowing the puppet to sprint over to the others. Jiminy hopped off Violet's shoulder and ran to meet the young puppet.

"Pinoke," Jiminy began. "Are you okay?"

"I'm sorry, Jiminy," Pinocchio confessed. "I've messed up real bad. Father must be _really worried_ about me!"

Jiminy gave a smile in return. "Gosh Pinoke! It looks like you're finally starting to learn."

Yet, Riku had a funny feeling in regards to the stranger before them. He interrogated, "Who are you?"

In reply, the figure reached out and pulled down its hood. To everyone's bewilderment, the figure's face was an identical copy of Riku's. Shocked, all Riku could say was, "_**Me**_?!"

Before another moment had gone by, the figure had left the area by means of a dark portal. Baffled by this event, Riku realized what he had just seen.

"That was my," he stammered. "My _**dark side**_!"

"Your 'dark side'?" Violet questioned, clearly perplexed.

"I gave into the Darkness once," the silver-haired youth explained. "Ever since, I've been chased around by it in one form or another."

As he took a deep breath, Riku recollected the various times the Darkness in his heart had taken another form. "The Seeker of Darkness who stole my body," he recalled. "That puppet-replica of the shadows in my heart. Now, I'm facing **_me_**."

"Wow!" Violet commented, unsure of what else to say. "That's… quite a _story_ you've got there!"

"Gee Riku," Pinocchio suddenly spoke up. "Don't you have a 'Jiminy' like I do? He's my _conscience_! Maybe you just need somebody to show you what's right and wrong!"

"He's right!" Jiminy agreed. "You can't shoulder all your problems alone. You must have someone — maybe a _friend_ you can talk to?"

"Actually, I do," Riku smiled. "That stupid grin he's always wearing. He's the best teacher I could ever have."

It was obvious to everyone present that Riku had been referring to Sora. In return, Sora gave a great, big smile. "What'd you _expect_?" he asked. This resulted in a few moments of laughter from the whole group.

"Gee whiz," Pinocchio said. "I wish _I_ had lots of good friends."

"You will, Pinoke," Jiminy reassured the puppet. "More than you can count."

Everyone else nodded in agreement. After a few seconds, the puppet nodded in turn.

"Well," Sora spoke up. "I think it's time we get you both home. Geppetto's probably worried sick."

"Yup!" Jiminy affirmed. He turned back to Pinocchio. "C'mon, Pinoke! Let's go home!"

* * *

It was nearly an hour after Sora, Riku, and Violet had ventured out of Pleasure Island with Pinocchio and Jiminy before the group finally had reached a cobblestoned plaza in a small, quaint village. At one corner of the shadow-filled plaza was a small building with a green door diagonally facing the street. As soon as Pinocchio strode up to the door, he began knocking and ringing the bell as loudly as he could.

"_**Father**_!" the puppet yelled. "_**Father**_! I'm back!"

After a few minutes of knocking and ringing, there was still no response. Mystified as to why Geppetto was not coming to answer the door, Sora suggested, "Maybe… he's _asleep_?"

In the meantime, Violet had approached a window near the front of the house. It's panes were partially fogged up, giving the impression the place was deserted. Still, the angel took a brief moment to wipe off enough of the smog to peer into the dark room. What she saw startled her.

"Guys," Violet called. "Look in here!"

Wondering why the Angel of Dreams was beckoning the group over, Sora, Riku, Pinocchio, and Jiminy all hurried over. As they all peered into the dim-lighted room inside, Pinocchio was speechless. While it was too dark to make out much for everyone else, both Jiminy and Pinocchio were able to notice something most-certainly was wrong. There was no sign of the woodcarver, his black cat [Figaro], or his goldfish [Cleo].

Geppetto was gone.

* * *

**A/N: UH-OH! Geppetto isn't home! Hopefully he's safe someplace rather than in the belly of some whale or something!**

**... Well,... we'll see when the next chapter comes.**

**In the meantime, PLEASE DON'T LEAVE WITHOUT REVIEWING! THE FATE OF THIS STORY DEPENDS ON IT!**

**This is SoraLego278 saying, "See Ya Later, Keybladers!"**


	14. Ch14 - Final Memoirs

**DISCLAIMER: I OWN NOTHING EXCEPT MY ORIGINAL CHARACTERS!**

**A/N: Here it comes... The FINAL CHAPTER for RASCAL'S DREAMLAND [PRANKSTER'S PARADISE].**

**Either way, I wanted to inform you that I've introduced a second of my ORIGINAL CHARACTERS at the END of Chapter 14.**

**Hence, IF you'd like to learn more, READ ON TO YOUR HEART'S CONTENT! PLEASE - READ & REVIEW ALIKE!**

* * *

**CHAPTER 14  
****Final Memoirs**

A gentle wind moved ever so noiselessly throughout the deserted streets of the village located at the heart of the valley. With a crescent-shaped moon shining its light all across the silent landscape, Sora took a brief minute to observe how the white light reflecting off the tall, pointed mountains surrounding the valley were not enough to hinder the twinkling lights of the multitude of stars overhead. Yet, all this made the Keyblade wielder feel was the sensation of being in a solemn setting.

Geppetto was missing, and no one had any clue where he could have gone. The only thing Pinocchio had wanted to do the second the group had arrived at the workshop was apologize to his dad. Unfortunately, the old woodcarver was nowhere in sight. For that matter, both Jiminy and Pinocchio had taken into account of how Geppetto's pets — a black cat named Figaro, and a goldfish named Cleo — were also unaccounted for.

That was the most-confusing part for the brown, spikey-haired youth to comprehend. Why had the woodcarver left with both the cat and his goldfish? Was he off searching for any whereabouts of his son? If so, where would he have gone off to? At that moment, Sora started to have to strangest feeling Geppetto had been abducted by the strange guy in the black coat. But, why would that stranger want to have anything to do with preventing Pinocchio and Jiminy from getting back home? Something about that whole theory failed to connect with the Keyblader's form of common sense.

"Maybe somethin' **_awful_ **happened to him!" The moment he heard the words enter his ears, Sora whirled around only to notice the half-transformed puppet-donkey of Pinocchio sitting upon the stone steps leading up to the front door of Geppetto's workshop. Realizing Pinocchio had spoken, Sora took note of how the little, wooden puppet was shedding tears of guilt and worry.

Beside the puppet was the small figure of the former's conscience; Jiminy Cricket. In an attempt to brighten up the spirits of the puppet, the green, hand-sized cricket turned with a hint of smile on his face. "Don't worry," he comforted. "I'm sure he hasn't gone too far."

As he glanced around, Sora spotted Riku slouched against the door. Noticing how the silver-haired, seventeen-year-old youth was giving the occasional yawn with droopy eyes. Sora gave a quick shake of his head; this was most-definitely how he usually acted in any type of circumstance back home on the islands. Although Riku would often be the one to tease the brown-haired teenager about how much the latter tried to avoid doing anything involving work-related techniques — especially the daily chores his mother would assign him to complete. However, Riku or Kairi would typically be the ones to accomplish such tasks for him, though neither of them would get the credit for doing so — Sora himself would.

Still, the very concept of watching Riku be the opposite of who he had always been known as before this quest of journeying into the Realm of Sleep felt extremely ironic for Sora. Now he _really_ couldn't wait to tell everyone back home about how lazy Riku was. Sure, it might damage the silver-haired teen's reputation — not to mention get Riku _furious_ at him — but Sora was certain this would most-likely show Riku's true colors. Thus, the _first_ person he would reveal this information to would be _**Kairi**_.

Pacing back-and-forth in the middle of the plaza beyond the workshop was pondering image of Violet, the Angel of Dreams. Her violet glow was much more prominent than it had first appeared to be when the pair of Keyblade Masters-In-Training had first encountered her back in _**Traverse Town**_, which made sense to Sora. Having already let his vision adjust to the darkness of the night, the Keyblade wielder was positive the angel's glow was easier to see when the surrounding environment was covered by fewer lights. Looking at Violet now, he was able to detect the violet-colored glow only extended about four inches from the angel's body. Nevertheless, the glow gave the klutzy impression the Angel of Dreams yielded a strong resemblance to how some people would have expected ghosts to appear. Of course, Sora was well-aware this was absolutely _not_ the case. Was it?

The whole sight allowed the brown-haired Keyblade wielder to recall how desperate he had previously been during his search for any sign that his best friends, Riku and Kairi, were okay and not in the dangerous hands of the now-stopped Organization XIII.

When he had learned Kairi might've been kidnapped by the group of villains, Sora nearly fell into a state of utter depression. Fortunately, it was thanks to the encouragement of both Donald Duck and Goofy alike that the spikey-haired teen was able to resolve to track down the headquarters of the evil Organization and continue his quest to rescue them from harm's way.

However, during a mission into the _**Land of Dragons**_, Sora had run across a figure dressed in a black-hooded coat wielding a weapon that looked similar to the _Soul Eater_ — the weapon Riku had previously attained during his time helping Maleficent. Yet, it wasn't until after Donald, Goofy, and him had helped Mulan bring down a gigantic, dragon-resembling Heartless that Sora seized the chance to inquire what had occurred when the Emperor had been visited by a stranger in a black-hooded coat. Upon learning how the strange figure had come to warn the Emperor about how an Organization XIII member, Xigbar, had transformed one of the world's cherished dragons into a Heartless, Sora was _certain_ the figure had to be Riku in disguise. However, he still had no clue why Riku would be sneaking around the whereabouts of Organization XIII.

Nothing else was uncovered until after Sora had finally gained the capability to travel to _**The World That Never Was**_. After finding Kairi safe and sound, the Keyblader proceeded to realize the figure, who looked just like Xehanort's Heartless, was Riku after giving into the Darkness to stop Sora's Nobody, Roxas. It was a short time later when Sora and the others learned how Riku had been struggling with his Darkness for quite some time. Fortunately, Sora was close-to-positive that the time when Riku would have the capability to handle his heart's Darkness had almost dawned upon them.

A bright light from above snatched Sora from his deep contemplation, made Violet halt in her footsteps, woke Riku from his dozing state, and caused both Pinocchio and Jiminy to leap onto their feet. Staring into the sky above, the entire group watched a white dove descended from the stars and came into a section of air directly above the square. As it hovered for a second, the dove opened its beak, dropping a furled piece of paper from its grasp. As the paper casually drifted down from above, the glimmering, white dove swiftly took off into the night sky overhead. Before long, the animal had vanished from plain sight.

Puzzled at having seen such an event, Sora muttered, "What was that about?"

The brown-haired youth instantly noticed how Violet was staring at the sky in a state of astonishment. All the angel could say was, "_Blue_… "

"_**Huh**_?!" Sora questioned. "Who's 'Blue'?"

Violet rapidly turned to face the Keyblade wielder in shock. After a moment, she relaxed. "Blue is my cousin," she explained. "I haven't heard from her for so long… "

Sora crossed his arms in mystification. "You're… cousin?"

Violet gave a nod. "Yes," the angel confirmed. "I happen to be one of seven angels who were given various responsibilities to protect the Light and prevent the Darkness from taking control over the worlds."

The expression on the teenage Keyblader clearly showed how much he was confused. "So," Sora summarized. "You're like one of the seven Princesses of Heart."

"In a way," Violet continued. "But Blue — or 'The Blue Fairy' as she's often called — is an _exception_; she lives in a single world while the rest of us can normally venture from world to world. Like the 'Princess of Heart', we _also_ have hearts of pure Light. We are referred to as the 'Angels of Light', and as such, we are named according to each color of the rainbow."

"_**Wow**_!" Sora blurted, obviously speechless. Based on what he had just heard, Violet was one of the seven Angels of Light who were charged with protecting the Light from being consumed by the Darkness. After learning about how each of them was named after each color of the rainbow, the Keyblader was certain Violet happened to be the seventh one — just like how Kairi was considered to be the seventh Princess of Heart.

However, Sora had never heard of the Angels of Light before, so he wasn't sure if anyone else he knew had. Perhaps the King and Master Yen Sid might know something. Merlin the Wizard very well might have met them previously. For that matter, maybe Maleficent herself was aware of their existence. The only other one Sora had a feeling knew about the seven angels would be Master Xehanort and (possibly) Organization XIII.

Hopefully the stranger in the black-hooded coat wasn't one of them. Nonetheless, that still didn't give any practical reason why the stranger appeared to be following Sora, Riku, and Violet along the course of their journey through the Sleeping Worlds. When had he first arrived in _**Traverse Town**_? How had he spontaneously appeared on the bridge in _**Corona**_? Why was he accompanied by Xehanort's Heartless in _**Pixie Hollow**_? In fact, where had he discovered the moment when Sora and the others were going to be inside the bar-like building and managed to come with Xehanort's Nobody? There were too many questions and not enough answers to fill them all. Therefore, Sora concluded there would be no easy explanations until the group was on the verge of completing their quest to awaken the seven Sleeping Worlds.

As he came back to reality, Sora heard Jiminy declare, "It's a message!"

Spinning to look in the direction of Geppetto's workshop, Sora and Violet both found Riku kneeling on the steps looking at the unrolled piece of paper the white dove had left a few moments before. Pinocchio was kneeling directly to Riku's left while Jiminy was standing upon the paper using his umbrella to assist him in reading it.

"What's the message say?" Riku inquired, curious to find out why this letter had spontaneously been delivered by a dove.

After reading a little more, Jiminy hastily whirled to face Pinocchio; the cricket's face was filled with shock. "It's about your _father_!"

Everyone in the group gathered around in amazement. The letter that had been brought to them by a white dove was about Geppetto — most-likely his current whereabouts.

"_**Where**_ is he?!" Pinocchio exclaimed, desperate to find out.

Jiminy continued to read more. "…You disappeared… he went looking for you… and he got swallowed by a whale."

The group gasped in alarm. Being the only one able to speak, Pinocchio exclaimed, "_Swallowed_ _by a_ _**whale**_?!"

For a moment, Jiminy nodded before the severity of the situation hit him. "A _**whale**_?!" he exclaimed in surprise, instantly getting back to speedily-read further. "But wait! He's _alive_!"

"_**Where**_?!" Violet requested. The sound of her voice made it clear how much the Angel of Dreams had been shaken upon hearing this tragic newsflash.

"…Inside the whale," Jiminy proceeded to read. "…At the bottom of the sea… "

"_Bottom of the __**sea**_?!" Pinocchio exclaimed anxiously. Immediately in response, the little, wooden boy clambered onto his feet and took off running down the street ahead.

"_Pinocchio_!" Sora called out. "Where are going now?"

Not turning back to face the others, the puppet replied, "I'm going to _**find**_ him!"

Jiminy, Riku, and Violet all gasped from shock the instant the words had left Pinocchio's mouth. Even Sora was distressed.

"But Pinoke!" Jiminy shouted out. "Don't you realize he's in a _whale_?"

"I've _**gotta**_ go to him!" Pinocchio responded with a yell of determination. The mere tone of the puppet's voice was more than enough to convince both Sora and Riku alike that Pinocchio's heart had previously decided to try to rescue Geppetto from the belly of the whale the woodcarver was now living within.

Jiminy hopped onto Sora's shoulder. "Sora," he insisted. "We've got to go after him!"

"I know," Sora nodded in approval. "We will."

"Don't tell me you're going _without_ me!" Riku spoke up.

Violet added, "And I'll be with you every step of the way!"

With a nod of agreement, Sora took off running down the street. Behind him came the sprinting shape of Riku and the scurrying form of Violet. They were all determined to ensure no harm would befall the little, wooden puppet.

* * *

Finally catching up with Pinocchio, the group found themselves now standing upon the top of a tall cliff rising out of the gently-moving waves of the deep, dark-blue ocean far below. Though the night sky was visible overhead, the moon had seemingly disappeared and left the entire expanse available solely to the now-brightly, twinkling stars.

As he glanced upward, Riku took note of how one single star appeared to be shining brighter and clear compared to the countless others scattered around. Certain this might be just a trick of his eyesight, the silver-haired teenager took a few seconds to rub the sleep out of his eyes. After taking another look up, the Keyblade wielder was baffled and bewildered. This was no optical illusion; the star was _still_ there — shining just as it had moments before. Riku had heard of such events as being an extremely rare sight to observe visually. However, the star's glowing light almost felt like it was… _watching_ him. Talk about a spooky sensation!

Finally, Riku decided to push the thought of the peculiar-looking star out of his mind, and he turned his focus over to where Sora and Violet had gathered next to Pinocchio. Quickly striding up to the others, Riku took into account that Pinocchio was standing close to the edge of the cliff; the puppet's donkey-tail had been securely tied around a large, heavy-looking rock.

Standing beside the smooth-faced rock was a frantically concerned Jiminy Cricket. "…This _**Monstro**_ fellow," the cricket proclaimed. "I've heard of him. He's a _whale_ of a whale! Why, he'll swallow whole ships — _**alive**_!"

Seconds after the name of the whale had registered in his brain, Riku's eyes lit up in astonishment and uneasiness. Jiminy had claimed the whale that devoured Geppetto was known as Monstro. If that was the case, this was the exact same whale he had encountered Sora inside of. It was during the 'small' mission he was assigned to by Maleficent; he was required to retrieve Pinocchio since the puppet was able to bear a heart of his own. For all he had known, the puppet might have possessed the secret to recovering Kairi's lost heart. During the miniature reunion he had conducted with Sora, Riku had come to the assumption that his best friend had become his enemy. Nevertheless, Sora had spoken the truth; "…You're on the _**wrong**__ side_!"

Shortly after, it was Revealed that Pinocchio's heart had survived. When a humungous Heartless had unexpectedly emerged in the vicinity, Riku was forced to flee through a dark portal. Thus, he willingly gave into the powers of the Darkness in an attempt to locate and rescue Kairi's missing heart for her.

"Riku, are you feeling alright?"

Riku snapped back into reality the instant the voice filled his ears. Whirling around, he realized Sora had spoken; the brown-haired Keyblader was staring at his friend in surprise. Reacting with a rapid pace, Riku gave a short, quick nod. "Yeah," he hurriedly admitted. "I'm okay."

Turning back to where Jiminy and Pinocchio were both located, the pair of Keyblade wielders watched with Violet as Pinocchio finally stood up and reached his hand out in the direction of Jiminy Cricket.

"Goodbye Jiminy!" Pinocchio said as though saying farewell to his conscience.

"_Goodbye_?!" a startled Jiminy exclaimed; his eyes were lit up brightly. After a mere moment, he relaxed. "I may be 'live bait' down there, but I'm with ya!"

With that, Jiminy hopped into the palm of Pinocchio's outstretched hand. As the puppet stepped to the edge of the cliff, Sora, Riku, and Violet stepped forwards to watch the pair's descent. As Pinocchio walked clear off the cliff, Jiminy shouted, "_Look out_ _**belooooooowwww**_!"

Within seconds, Pinocchio and Jiminy had splashed into the ocean waves far below and vanished from sight.

Still upon the cliff, Sora looked at both Riku and Violet. "Well," he began. "Here goes nothing!"

Before anyone could stop him, Sora bent down before leaping into the air. He curled into a ball as his body made a great, big splash in the ocean.

Back on the cliff, Violet worriedly stared down at the moving waves below. Due to the lack of sunlight, the overhead view of the waters gave the impression of extremely Darkness-infested depths. Feeling uncomfortable, the angel hesitated on the edge of the cliff; her face looked pale.

Making a note of this, Riku gave a secretive-smirked smile. This was one of those opportunities he would frequently search for to be mischievous in one way or another. Refusing to waste a single moment, the silver-haired youth reached out and gave the angel a gentle push from behind.

* * *

With a scream of fright, Violet suddenly fell from her position upon the cliff. Watching the waves swiftly approaching before her, the angel immediately sealed her eyes shut in anxiety.

With an ear-splitting _**SPLASH**_, Violet sensed she had stopped falling and was now floating in mid-air. As she cautiously reopened her eyelids, the angel was speechless. She was not only underwater, but a number of yellow, red, and green colored fish were looking at her with a hint of curiosity in their eyes. To Violet's amazement, she had mysteriously gained the capability to breathe under the sea. Unfortunately, her wings were water-logged and were continuously dragging her down.

After a few minutes of non-stop descent, Violet found herself on the seafloor. Taking a swift observation of the surrounding area, she identified Sora calmly swimming about in awe. Nearby, she noticed Riku having just reached the seabed moments after her.

Moving into the direction of the others, Violet watched as Sora gestured for her and Riku to follow him. While she was slightly perplexed in regards to whether or not the brown-haired teen was leading them in the correct direction, Violet agreed to follow along as the Keyblade wielders took the lead together.

The deeper into the ocean they ventured, the darker the dimly-lit water became.

* * *

Sometime later, Sora, Riku, and Violet all found themselves marching through an enormous stone arch standing upon the base of the ocean depths. As they peered into the darkness of the ocean's abyss, Riku blurted, "There they are!"

Spinning their focus directly where Riku was pointing, Sora and Violet spotted the terrified faces of Pinocchio and Jiminy desperately trying to scurry through the water. For a brief second, the trio was puzzled; what were the puppet and cricket fleeing from?

The answer came into view seconds later. Emerging from the deepest parts of the dark abyss, a gigantic, dark-blue whale came charging forwards. To Sora and Riku's alarm, this was the same, exact whale they assumed Jiminy had meant — Monstro. As Monstro swooped upwards, Pinocchio and Jiminy were forced into the open sea above. Unfortunately, the whale didn't stop moving and rammed straight into the stone arch — forcing the three below to duck before getting sucked away by an unseen current-like force.

There was no use in attempting to swim in the rough-moving water; Sora, Riku, and Violet were constantly spinning around in circles while Pinocchio and Jiminy had been driven a long distance away from the others. When the spinning had finally come to a halt, Sora, Riku, and Violet looked around, only to witness a terrible event take place.

As Pinocchio and Jiminy were urgently moving as fast as they could away from Monstro, the whale had hastily snuck up from behind the pair with its mouth wide open for them. As the twosome started to lose speed and began drifting into the jaws of the monstrous animal, Monstro seized the moment to rapidly close his mouth.

"_**Pinocchio**_!" Sora hollered from afar. "_**Jiminy**_!"

It was too late. The little, wooden puppet and the cricket-conscience had just been consumed by the humungous whale. Believing they now had to rescue their friends from within Monstro, the group swam after the giant whale.

At that second, a gigantic creature came darting past. Sora was astounded. The creature looked like an oversized crab with a sea-blue body, lime-colored claws, and had six honey-yellow-colored legs. The creature came to a sudden stop not too far away from where Sora and the others were watching. Raising its claws, the crab-like animal sent two beams of a dark-blue element onto Monstro's tail. As the beams vanished, Monstro's body began to freeze in a layer of ice.

"_**Yikes**_!" Violet declared as the three swam after the hastily-freezing form of the whale.

* * *

Upon arriving at the surface of the ocean, Sora, Riku, and Violet found themselves standing on an enormous iceberg. Within the floating chunk of ice, they could make out the unmistakable figure of a now-trapped Monstro The Whale. As they swept their eyes across the immediate vicinity, the sound of a whirling propeller — similar to how one would describe a helicopter's rotor — filled their senses. Whirling around to learn what the source of the noise was, they came face-to-face with the creature they had seen freeze Monstro inside the iceberg.

With one glance, Violet exclaimed, "It's another _Nightmare_!"

On cue, Sora and Riku summoned their Keyblades. Sora stated, "We'll have to 'claw' our way past… "

"…_Then_ we can rescue our friends!" Riku finished.

Instinctively, both Sora and Riku charged towards the monster. In the blink of an eye, the creature leaped into the air and successfully managed to avoid the advancing Keyblade wielders. Upon watching the monster land onto the iceberg, Sora jumped into air and succeeded in dealing a quick slash with his weapon before Riku did the same.

Moments later, the Nightmare hopped into the air and began to float away from the chunk of ice in a speedy escape. Witnessing this, Sora shouted, "Now's our chance! Let's get this whale in the air!"

Responding rapidly, Riku ran up to where the weakest part of the iceberg was located — Monstro's nose. After a few hits of the Keyblade, the ice shattered. Instantly, Violet took the opportunity to send a flurry of magical bubbles into the gap in the iceberg.

Before long, the iceberg began to shake as it broke apart. Sora, Riku, and Violet hastily climbed onto the growing bubble as it burst out of the chunk of ice and rose into the air. Within the iceberg was Monstro the whale himself.

"_C'mon_!" Riku proclaimed as the bubble quickly headed straight for the creature fleeing in the distance ahead. Though it only took roughly twenty seconds, it seemed to be twenty minutes before the whale-filled bubble reached the Nightmare. With a stab of their Keyblades, Sora and Riku leaped off the bubble while Violet hopped off moments after the duo had. The bubble exploded in a flash — destroying the crab-shaped monster into nothing but a flurry of bubbles.

Moments after, the three found themselves landing into the water of the ocean. Noticing the now-cold nose of Monstro was about to make the creature sneeze, they tried to get out of the way, but ended up getting blown away when the whale gave a great, big sneeze.

* * *

Next thing they knew, Sora, Riku, and Violet had landed onto the sandy beaches of a not-too-distant shoreline. Clambering back onto their feet, the trio stared out to sea. After a couple of sweeps across the area, they realized Monstro was nowhere in sight.

All at once, Sora closed his eyes. "_I_ get it now," he muttered.

"Get what?" Riku questioned.

Sora turned to face the others. "After all this," he explained. "Pinocchio and Jiminy's world got dragged into Darkness. They ended up cast into the sea between worlds, along with Monstro. Then, they would end up in Traverse Town and the belly of the whale. _That's_ when we met for real!"

Riku and Violet were speechless. All Violet could say was, "You mean… all this was what happened before the world fell to Darkness? Makes sense to me. Sleeping Worlds can have dreams based on any memories they have."

"It's like Master Yen Sid said," Riku added. "The world is **_trapped_ **in a never-ending dream."

"Yeah," Sora agreed. "We're in the dream Pinocchio's world is dreaming. And this world will **_never_ **be right again, unless we wake it from sleep!"

Instantly after Sora had finished speaking, a glimmer of bright Light seized the focus of the group. Before their eyes was the easily-recognizable form of a keyhole-shaped image in the sky above. Using their Keyblades once more, Sora and Riku sent out two beams of Light that merged before striking the center of the Keyhole. As it unlocked, a tunnel of Light formed in place of where the Sleeping Keyhole had been.

Leaping for the tunnel, Sora, Riku, and Violet managed to dive inside as the Sleeping World of **Rascal's Dreamland** began to wake up from its slumber.

* * *

Lea was either exhausted, bored, or annoyed as he slowly stepped back into the study of the former ruler of Ansem The Wise. Noticing Aeleus and Ienzo were both busy trying to clean up the dusty room, all Lea could do was sigh.

"Well," Lea spoke up. "I've turned this castle upside-down, and all I found was this rug-rat."

He raised his right arm, revealing a struggling teenage girl he had been dragging the whole way. The girl was wearing a yellow shirt with a blue mini-skirt, orange boots, a blue bracelet on her left wrist with a matching scarf around her waist, and sea-green jacket that was unzipped. She was a slender youth with reddish hair that spikey downwards. Her deep blue eyes were currently filled with frustration as she was attempting to break free from Lea's grasp.

The instant they saw the girl, Aeleus stood up from where he had been dusting the shelves. "What's her name?" he interrogated.

In the blink of an eye, the girl successfully broke free from Lea's grip. She stood up, glaring at the fiery-haired young man.

"You know better than to treat a girl like _**that**_!" she snarled.

Lea was busy rubbing his hand. "Right," he scoffed. "And you know better than to _scratch_ someone."

Irritated, the girl turned to face Aeleus and Ienzo, who had already stopped what they were doing. "Niccole," she introduced. "I was just taking a stroll through the castle grounds when _**he**_ grabbed me!"

She glared at Lea. Instead of waiting for the interrogation to continued, Lea asked, "Are Even and Dilan _still_ unconscious?"

"They're awake," Ienzo replied. "But still unstable. They'll be resting for a while."

Finally, Lea stated, "I'll just give the castle grounds another sweep."

"_Don't you __**dare**_!" Niccole snapped. "If you're searching for someone, there's _no one_ else around! The area's been _**deserted**_!"

"But," Lea asked. "Where could they be?"

"Simple," Ienzo explained. "When someone's Heartless and Nobody are destroyed, they should automatically be returned to the world where they lost their heart. If that world is unavailable — for one reason or another — they would be sent to a place prepared for such events. It's called 'Traverse Town'."

"Well," Lea smirked. "If we've been re-completed, then they should be, too."

After a minute, Lea added, "I guess I'll just go and bring them back myself."

"You _**can't**_ go beyond this world," Niccole blurted. "It's impossible _and_ illogical! It's just plain _**crazy**_!"

Lea marched straight across the room and up to a section of wall. Lying next to it was a gigantic portrait of Xehanort back where he had been the foremost apprentice of 'Lord Ansem'.

"Well," Lea murmured. "I guess that means I'm crazy."

With a roll of her eyes, Niccole gave a sigh. "If _you're_ going," she blurted. "_I'm_ going, too."

Looking about the wall, Lea was easily able to make out the writing upon it.

**DOOR ****TO ****DARKNESS**

With a deep sigh, Lea complained with a sarcastic tone in his voice, "Why do I **_always_ **get stuck with the icky jobs?"

* * *

**A/N: That makes ... THREE SLEEPING WORLDS OFFICIALLY AWAKENED!**

**As it is, you MAY have noticed my SECOND ORIGINAL CHARACTER - NICCOLE. Like I said before, DON'T ASK TO USE HER! I WILL ALWAYS SAY NO!**

**So, here's yet another HINT to the next world up ahead; "IDENTIFY (FOR OLD FRIENDS AND NEW FOES), PROGRAM!"  
****As you know, please post what world you believe might be next in the REVIEWS for THIS Chapter.**

**Here goes something-er... nothing, PLEASE DON'T LEAVE WITHOUT REVIEWING! THE FATE OF THIS STORY DEPENDS ON IT!**

**This is SoraLego278 saying, "See Ya Later, Keybladers!"**


	15. Ch15 - A Digital Frontier

**DISCLAIMER: I OWN NOTHING EXCEPT MY ORIGINAL CHARACTERS!**

**A/N: HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY! Here in America, it's INDEPENDENCE DAY!**

**Thus, Here is a "SPECIAL" Chapter to celebrate the Holiday!**

**Also, this IS the first chapter of the next Disney-Based World!**

**Enjoy and Read On... !**

* * *

**CHAPTER 15  
A Digital Frontier**

An unanticipated flash of rapid transfiguration jolted Riku with such intensity the silver-haired teenager nearly leaped in panic. After a moment had passed, he realized his heart had started beating quickly for no logical explanation. Last he recollected, the Keyblade wielder had just finished entering another tunnel of calm Light after Sora and him had used their Keyblades to unlock the Sleeping Keyhole in _**Rascal's Dreamland**_. Seemingly less than five minutes after the pair had dove into the corridor of Light with the Angel of Dreams [Violet], the three had taken notice of how the passage began to flood with a bluish-tinted light that engulfed the trio in the same amount of time it would take for someone to blink their eyes. For them, it gave the awkward sensation of moving in a state of slow-motion.

Yet, he had inexplicably set foot upon a solidified landscape; the surrounding scenery was so dazzling it seemed to give the illusion of exploring the streets of an ultra-illuminated city at night. As he took a few seconds to observe the immediate vicinity, Riku took into account of how he was standing in a triangular-shaped plaza with two city-like streets forming a V-shaped point in the direction he was facing. From there, the pair of streets merged before proceeding onward as a single street leading into the distance. The entire layout looked like a Y-shaped path.

"_**Riku**_?!" a half-startled, half-perplexed voice called from behind. Spinning around, the teenage Keyblader spotted a figure bearing a strong resemblance to how Violet looked. However, the figure was sporting a bluish-tinted dress with a long-sleeve shirt and matching skirt; its feet were covered by dark-blue sandals. Thanks to the obvious sight of a set of bluish-violet-tinted, transparent wings, and a constant violet-glow illuminating from the figure, Riku relaxed. This was no stranger; it was just Violet, the Angel of Dreams with a slightly-altered appearance. Last the silver-haired youth recalled, the angel's clothing had previously changed back in _**Pixie Hollow**_. After the group had completed their adventure and awakened the Sleeping World, her outfit — along with both Sora and Riku's clothing — had returned to its normal style and shape alike.

"Violet," Riku calmly inquired. "What's with your clothes?"

Violet crossed her arms. "I was just about to ask _you_ the same thing," she replied.

Confused about what Violet had meant, Riku hastily took a glance at his outfit; he was instantly astonished. His clothing had fully merged into a dark-blue suit with light-blue circuitry. On his head was an item in the same of a helmet, including a transparent visor hanging off the front to shield his eyes from… something. He marveled, "Our clothes have changed… "

As he lifted his eyesight from examining his extraordinary outfit, Riku spotted a figure standing directly to his right. After taking a couple minutes to carefully observe the unique outfit of the figure, the silver-haired teen recognized them as Sora.

What a mind-boggling sight! Sora's clothing had also reformed into a dark-suit that covered his whole body (though the shape of his shorts, shirt, jacket, and shoes were still visible) with light-blue circuitry. Situated upon his head was a matching helmet that included a transparent visor acting as a shield for his eyes.

Noticing how Sora's eyes were shut, Riku was certain the brown-haired Keyblade wielder was dozing while standing upright.

All it took was a gentle nudge to knock Sora into consciousness. Whirling his field of vision around in shock and surprise, the Keyblader quickly discovered he had been woken by the now-secretly snickering Riku. Just beyond was the shaking-in-disbelief angel, Violet.

When he took into account the features fixed onto the attire of Riku and Violet's outfits, Sora's eyes grew in recognition. After taking a few seconds to look over his own clothes, the spikey, brown-haired youth let out a gasp of amazement.

"This outfit," he exclaimed in awe. "_**I **_know where we are!"

Riku and Violet stared at one another in utter puzzlement and bafflement. How was it possible for Sora to instantly recognize a world that had been attacked by the Heartless, consumed by the Darkness, restored alongside the countless others taken by the Darkness, and fallen into a state of sleep? The only explanation the silver-haired Keyblader could come up with was that Sora would have visited the world, with Donald and Goofy, sometime before it was swallowed by the Darkness. Unfortunately, such things failed to make sense for Riku's understanding. Therefore, why did Sora believe the world was familiar?

Rather than continue to ponder it over, Violet and Riku turned back to where Sora was still looking around comfortably. In a puzzled voice, Riku questioned, "Is this world… '_special_'?"

Sora placed his hands behind his head as a large smile appeared upon his face. "Kind of… "

All of a sudden, a bright spotlight came shining down from above. As a gust of wind blew around the plaza, Sora stared up in astonishment. "_Whoa_!" he declared. "What is _**that**_?!"

Moving their eyes to where Sora was looking, Riku and Violet were nearly speechless. Approximately twenty feet in the air overhead was an enormous hovercraft. The vehicle was constructed in the shape of a giant, capital "H" with engines designed to hover in mid-air located on its 'feet'. It was a dark-purplish color with yellow-tinted circuitry.

"A _**Nightmare**_?!" Riku exclaimed.

"I don't think so," Violet disagreed, comparing the design of the vehicle to the traditional form of the unwanted Nightmarish Dream Eaters. "Let's see how this plays out."

Nearly three seconds later, the vehicle had touched down onto the plaza before them without any trouble. Its horizontal-aligned platform slowly descended from the middle of the "H"-shaped machine, coming to a stop directly before the group's current position. As it came to the street-level, Riku spotted a few creepy-looking individuals standing firmly on the floor of the platform. The 'guards' were dressed in black, skintight suits lined with orange-hued circuitry and black, featureless helmets. In their hands were yellow batons with black-colored grips.

As six of the guards stepped off the platform and up to the group, they unanimously decreed, "Identify!"

Now Riku was both startled and mystified. The voices of the strange-looking guards were so garbled, they sounded like they were speaking through water. They also tended to speak without a mere hint of emotion. After the individuals came to an abrupt halt before the group, the formers ordered, "State your handles, programs!"

Riku was shocked silent. _**Programs**_?! Since when did anybody _ever_ assume Sora, Violet, and him were anything besides two teenagers and an angel-like creature? Talk about _awkward_!

"Um," Sora spoke for the trio. "We don't have any 'handles', but our names are Sora, Riku, and Violet."

For a brief moment, the guards stared at the three newcomers. "Identifying handles," they stated in unison. "'Sora'… 'Riku'… 'Violet'… handles not found — more stray programs recognized."

Before the three had the opportunity to respond, the guards rushed forward and snatched them by their arms. Two of the strangers had seized Riku, two more had grabbed Violet and the last pair had snatched Sora. While the guards carefully dragged Riku and Violet to the platform, Sora wrestled against their grip on his wrists.

"_Hey_!" he retaliated. "This is so _unfriendly_!"

After Riku and Violet had been positioned into two side-by-side 'seats' on the vehicle, their feet were swiftly secured in place along with their arms. At the same time, Sora had successfully managed to break free from the grip of the strange guards and had started to flee into the distance. As he sprinted off, a group consisting of several of the guards appeared and began to give pursuit.

"_Sora_," Violet shouted out. "Come back!"

"Never mind him," Riku spoke up. "Sora can take care of himself. He's had more experience in these kinds of situations than I've had."

Though she was speechless upon hearing these words leave the lips of the silver-haired Keyblader, Violet decided to push the idea of Sora being in extreme danger out of her head. After all, Riku knew more about Sora than she did. If Riku was positive Sora would be fine, then the brown-haired teenager would be fine.

A few moments later, the vehicle the duo had been forced aboard had restarted its engines and taken to the air. As he swept his around this way and that, Riku was both awestruck and bewildered. Through the transparent floor of the craft, he could easily detect the layout of the same street leading back towards the plaza Sora, Violet, and him had appeared at. Noticing several streets crossing paths with the main road, the silver-haired youth kept staring down below as he came to realize the intersections of the roadways were designed with perfect squares. As he merely glanced upwards, the Keyblade wielder took note of how the sky overhead was filled with a pitch-black color. A few clouds could be seen here and there with the occasional flash of what Riku perceived was lightning. What a strange world! Yet, what world was it?

As he was looking around for some type of hint to the world's identity, Riku heard a voice yell, "Are you a prisoner?"

Whirling his attention over to his left, the silver-haired Keyblader realized the voice had come from the figure situated directly beside him. The figure was a young man sporting short, light-brown hair and was wearing a black outfit with light-blue circuitry. Although he was puzzled by what this guy meant by a 'prisoner', Riku rapidly made up his mind to reply.

"Yeah," Riku answered. "It looks that way."

The figure nodded in agreement. "Name's Sam Flynn!"

"I'm Riku," Riku responded. He gestured towards the Angel of Dreams still to his right. The second she had overheard Riku talking to someone, Violet had proceeded to continue listening along. "She's Violet!"

After Sam had given a nod of understanding, Violet asked, "Sam, where are we?"

Sam turned his eyes straight ahead. Wondering what kind of an explanation this was, both Riku and Violet decided to do the same. A few moments later, Sam replied, "We're on the Grid!"

It was now crystal-clear. Sora, Riku, and Violet had ventured into the Sleeping World of data-based existence — **The Grid**.

* * *

He kept running. There was no turning back. If he were to, the guards chasing behind would surely catch him in the blink of an eye. Fortunately, the maze of streets was plenty to allow Sora the capability to swerve this way and that as he darted through the streets. After five minutes had passed, the majority of the guards having been in pursuit had either gotten lost, given up the chase, or ran into the wall of a building or street sign. Even so, the spikey-haired teen refused to stop and take a moment's break. The smallest of such events would give his attackers the chance to catch up and apprehend him. Thus, he continued to run faster and faster while zigzagging between any of the structures he could whirl behind to lead the guards off his trail.

It had now been nearly ten or fifteen minutes since the brown-haired Keyblade wielder had taken flight when he realized the roads had all vanished and he was now sprinted down the length of an extensive suspension bridge. By this point, his heart was already racing almost to the point where he felt extremely dizzy and nauseous. Hence, he finally was forced to spot a brief moment to catch his breath. As fate would have it, that was more than enough time for the last few guards to reach him. Sora covered his head with his arms in fear of being struck by a weapon.

Yet, moments before the adversaries could punish the teenage Keyblader, another figure swooped into view from above and landed feet-first upon the bridge. The instant the group of guards spotted the new arrival, they immediately took off running away. Relieved to know he had somehow been saved by a random person, Sora clambered onto his feet and turned to thank his rescuer.

Unfortunately, his protector showed clear indication of refusing any form of gratitude. To make matters worse, the figure's appearance made it evident they were probably not an ally, but were an enemy. They were wearing black-colored body-armor bearing orange-lighted circuitry, dark-black helmet covering their face entirely, and even a cluster of four, small, orange-tinted squares arranged in the shape of a capital "T". The second he had taken into account these details of the figure's clothing, Sora had the slightest feeling the "T" reminded him of something he had once seen on an earlier quest of his. Before he was able to ponder it over, the figure hunched over with its arms spread out in the shape of a pair of arches. Within his hands were a pair of disk-shaped weapons.

When it occurred to him that the figure was on the verge of staging an attack, Sora summoned his Keyblade in the blink of an eye. However, moments before he could prepare to battle the unexpected stranger, the latter paused what they were doing. In a few quick movements, they connected their dual-disks together before placing the items behind their back. After another pause of what made Sora wonder if the figure was mystified at seeing his Keyblade, the strange figure leaped into the air before dashing away and out-of-sight.

Sora was both flabbergasted and puzzled. What had he done to scare off such a threatening-looking person? Why did the figure give a sensation of familiarity to the brown-haired Keyblade wielder? Was it someone he knew from before?

While still thinking it over, Sora put his Keyblade away before proceeding down the length of the bridge he had come across. To his surprise, not a single Nightmare emerged to stop him. Had he dealt enough terror into them so they were not going to appear at all? Or was there a completely different reason?

He continued to casually stroll along when a flash of headlights came from behind. Reacting hastily, Sora spun around as the blurred image of a large vehicle screeched to a sudden halt beside him. As he slowly removed his hand from his eyes, the Keyblade wielder thought he saw a figure sitting in the driver's seat of the automobile. Yet, instantly before he had the ability to make out who it was, Sora found himself snatched off his feet.

* * *

Talk about loud, annoying, and obnoxious all rolled into one! This was how Riku and Violet were reacting the mere second they had been led off the spaceship (The guards had referred to it as a 'Recognizer') and into an enormous stadium-like arena. As they were looking around the open stands of the vicinity, the pair took into account how enthusiastic the crowds filling the seats were behaving. They were cheering at such a loud volume Violet had been forced to cover her ears. Fortunately, Riku had previously been in some situations involving extraordinarily shrill noises and had already managed to adapt to them accordingly.

As a flurry of fireworks exploded in the sky above, the duo found themselves approached by a group of individuals exiting the ramp of an orange-yellow spaceship with an extremely odd-deigned layout. One look upon the group and the twosome quickly recognized Sam Flynn. Last they recalled, he had disembarked with a few others at another stadium-like structure. However, he had somehow uncovered a way to venture over to where they were now at.

As he took a look at the remainder of the group, Riku noticed a small handful of guards sporting nearly-identical outfits to the ones from the 'Recognizer'. Nonetheless, one of the figure stood out; he was wearing a black, skintight suit with yellow-orange circuitry. Still, he was sporting brown hair and seemed to resemble a middle-aged adult. As soon as the group had reached Riku and Violet, the figure stated, "You three are in luck. Only a 'precious few' are granted Light-Cycle Battle privileges."

After the guards had handed Sam, Riku, and Violet each a blue-colored cylinder, Sam asked, "What are _these_ for, CLU?"

"You going to explain why this is so 'lucky'?" Riku added.

The figure, CLU, smiled in a dark-feeling way. "I'll show you all!"

Without another word, CLU and his entire group of guards turned to their left and took off running. In the blink of an eye, they hopped into the air and positioned their own red-colored cylinders in front of them. In a rapid transformation, the cylinders had turned into motorcycle-resembling vehicles and sped off into the distance.

Sam was impressed in a feeling of acknowledgement. "Now _this_ I can do!" he spoke out.

With a few steps of swift movement, the young man ran forwards and leaped into the air. As a blue-colored motorcycle-shaped vehicle formed under him, Sam flew off across the arena.

Curious to try something brand new to his own experience, Riku gave a smirked grin. He remarked, "How hard can it be?"

He swiftly ran straight ahead before summoning his own motorcycle to travel upon.

Although she was uncomfortable about zooming around on such an unsteady-looking vehicle, Violet gulped her nervousness aside before doing the same as the other two. The main difference was how much difficulty the angel was having keeping her Light-Cycle balanced without tipping over.

* * *

Barely thirty minutes had gone past by the time Riku had assisted Sam with shoving almost all the guards' Light-Cycles off balance and slammed them into a wall before one of the stands. Nevertheless, Violet was struggling greatly with attempting to keep her vehicle steady. Even so, she was still capable of dodging the approaching attacks from the guards.

Unfortunately, her Light-Cycle hit a mysterious bump while she was about to pass Riku and began to swerve around. The vehicle collided with the silver-haired youth's Light-Cycle, causing Riku to ram directly into Sam's vehicle. As the trio were knocked onto the floor of the arena, their Light-Cycles crashed ahead before exploding into a sloppy mess of molten matter.

"Why'd you do _**that**_ for?!" Riku glowered at Violet.

"Excuse me," Violet countered. "But those things are _**extremely**_ hard to control!"

When the three noticed CLU's vehicle was now proceeding in the direction of where they had crash-landed, they leapt onto their feet. As Sam pulled out a disk-shaped weapon from behind his back, Riku summoned his Keyblade and Violet immediately took cover behind the silver-haired Keyblade wielder.

Seconds later, a loud roar filled their ears. Before the eyes of Riku, Violet, and Sam, an enormous vehicle had appeared in the center of the arena. The truck-shaped vehicle consisted of four-giant wheels with a decent-sized cockpit shielding the driver's seat. The color of the vehicle was a dark-purple with light-blue tinted circuitry.

The unanticipated vehicle instantly cut off CLU's movement and caused his Light-Cycle to come to an abrupt crash. Though CLU had survived the impact, the driver of the newly-arrived vehicle had ignored him and come to a stop before Sam, Riku, and Violet. Its cockpit flew open revealing a figure wearing a black, skintight suit with blue-tinted circuitry; their face was concealed by a pitch-black helmet. The first thing the stranger did was say, "Get in!"

For a few moments, the trio were perplexed when another person popped their head out from the backseat. Riku was astounded; he exclaimed, "_Sora_!"

Sure enough, Sora was situated in the backseat of the vehicle. "_Riku_! _Violet_!" he called out. "Come on — _**quick**_!"

Acting speedily, Riku, Violet, and Sam all climbed into the cockpit of the vehicle. After Riku and Violet had been seated into the backseats with Sora — Sam had sat in the passenger seat in the front — the hatch sealed up and the driver sped off.

Overhead, an electronic voice monotonously declared, "Illegal combatant on the Grid… System failure… Release Rinzler… "

Nearby, CLU spoke up, "Game on, old friend."

* * *

Whirling around upon hearing a loud engine noise from behind, Riku noticed a Light-Cycle giving chase after them. At that moment, the driver called, "Hang on!"

Before anyone knew it, a pair of laser-like bullets fired from the front of the vehicle and struck the wall of the arena before them. The result was an oval-shaped opening.

"Pull up," Sam exclaimed in fright. "You can't make that!"

Yet, the vehicle proceeded onwards and flew out and onto the rugged terrain beyond.

"Made it!" The driver remarked.

It was then Riku took note of how the Light-Cycle behind them had been forced to halt before reaching the gaping hole. He relaxed for a minute before turning to face the driver.

"Thanks for saving us," he commended.

"Who are you anyway?" Sora asked.

A second later, the driver's helmet vanished revealing their short, black hair. What a surprise! The driver was a girl.

"I'm Quorra!" she introduced.

Sora nodded. "Nice to meet you, Quorra!"

"Why were they turning back?" Riku questioned.

"There vehicles aren't designed to go off-Grid," Quorra replied. "They'll malfunction on this terrain."

"What about _us_?!" Violet exclaimed.

Quorra smiled. "Obviously _not_!"

"Where are you taking us?" Sam inquired, indicating the shadow-covered landscape they were heading across.

"Patience, Sam Flynn," Quorra reassured. "All your and Sora's questions will be answered soon."

Now Riku was wondering what kind of 'questions' Sora would have been seeking answers to. Perhaps this was some type of hidden connection between this world and Sora's adventures than he ever had been aware of.

* * *

**A/N: And there you have it! This is the world of _TRON: Legacy (2010)_, which happens to be one of my TOP 3 FAVORITE DISNEY MOVIES!**

**I don't have much to say, except HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!**

**...Oh yeah; PLEASE DON'T LEAVE WITHOUT REVIEWING! THE FATE OF THIS STORY DEPENDS ON IT!**

**This is SoraLego278 saying, "See Ya Later, Keybladers!"**


	16. Ch16 - The Father, Son, & Portal

**DISCLAIMER: I OWN NOTHING EXCEPT MY ORIGINAL CHARACTERS!**

**A/N: As you might've been anticipating, CHAPTER 16 has now OFFICIALLY arrived!**

**Just for the record, there is ONE word from Kingdom Hearts 3D I had to fix to make this story "Less Offensive". Thus, I added a "LINE" in the middle of the word to cut the "most-inappropriate" parts out... IF you know what I mean!**

**Either way, that's all I have to say.**

**Let's continue with the world of _TRON: __ LEGACY_!**

* * *

**CHAPTER 16  
****The Father, Son, & Portal**

As he cautiously climbed out of the cockpit, Riku felt his head begin to whirl around in circles; dizziness was starting to conquer over him. Without any prior notice, his legs gave way from beneath and caused him to collapse onto the white tiles that made the design of the floor. As he took a few moments to allow his vision to restore itself, the silver-haired youth allowed himself to recollect the events that had recently taken place.

Just after Sora, Violet, and him had first arrived in the Sleeping World called _**The Grid**_, they had realized their appearances had altered once more. While he and Violet were pondering over where they were, Sora had instantly recognized the environment as someplace he had travelled to previously. Yet, Sora was unable to reveal more information before they were descended upon by a '_Recognizer_' — at least he _believed_ that was what it was called — and a group of black-dressed guards. Though Riku was still baffled about why, the guards had hastily attempted to arrest the trio; he and Violet were taken prisoner whilst Sora broke free and darted out of the vicinity.

While situated aboard the 'Recognizer', Riku and Violet had become acquainted with a young man named Sam Flynn, who informed them what the identity of the world was. However, they were separated from Sam at a large stadium. It wasn't long before they were escorted into an arena-like structure and came across Sam once again. The silver-haired Keyblade wielder and the angel were forced to assist their newfound 'friend' when a 'special' program named CLU challenged them all to a battle involving motorcycle-resembling vehicles called 'Light Cycles'.

After defeating the majority of their opponents, Violet had lost control of her cycle and rammed into Riku's. The outcome was a '_domino effect_' (as Kairi had sometimes put it), in which Violet's impact had caused Riku to collide with Sam's cycle and throw them all onto the arena's floor. For a brief moment, things appeared to be hopeless when CLU came speeding at them. Fortunately, they were swiftly rescued by a vehicle driven by a young woman named Quorra, who had previously run across Sora and insisted the group escape out of the arena with all haste.

Thus, they had driven out into the middle of nowhere until Quorra had parked the vehicle within a garage concealed inside a greyish-colored mountain deep in the rugged environment. As he had clambered out of the vehicle, Riku had felt _extremely_ dizzy from all the swerving, zigzagging, and speeding that had befallen the group as Quorra drove them into a region she referred to as the 'Outlands' — a deserted environment situated far beyond the arenas and stadium of the surrounding world.

"You okay, Riku?" Sora inquired, pulling the silver-haired teenager out of his current recollection.

"Yeah," Riku affirmed as he succeeded in regaining his balance. "Just felt a little… unsteady."

Sora nodded in understanding. "Well, c'mon! Violet and the others are _already_ waiting for us at the elevator."

With a nod in return, Riku followed his best friend as the latter led the way to a corner of the well-lit room. After the pair had regrouped with Sam Flynn, Quorra, and Violet, the group of five stepped onto a dim-lighted platform which rapidly began to rise. After they had entered an elevator-like shaft of darkness, the platform quickly became lit up to illuminate the surrounding walls of rock. Before long, they reached the top floor.

* * *

Sora was amazed; the whole room they had just arrived at was shrouded in complete darkness while the elevator was still lit up. Yet, that was not all; on the far wall he noticed a window-like surface having been organized into a grid of evenly-spaced dots with an excellent view leading into the far distance. For some unknown reason, the brown, spikey-haired Keyblader was positive this world seemed extremely familiar. However, he couldn't quite place when he had last been there or whom he had met. Why was that the case?

In the exact center of the room was the form of an older man sitting on the floor in a state of what one could classify as meditation. Quorra told the others to wait while she casually strolled up to the man.

"Quorra," the man spoke out the instant he heard her footsteps. "I fear something has happened."

Quorra knelt down beside him. "Something _has_ happened," she replied. "We have some guests."

The man chuckled. "There are no 'guests', kiddo."

After Quorra backed away, the man gradually stood up and turned to face the group. As he stood up as straight as possible, the darkened floor speedily lit up as though a ripple of liquid water had flowed directly through it starting from where the man stood.

Now Sora was impressed. All around the room were objects he had expected to see typically in a _futuristic_-styled house. Nonetheless, he knew he was exploring a Sleeping World, so the items he saw were most-certainly from the _past_ rather than the future. Among them was an entire setting of a table and matching chairs bearing a striking resemblance to what he would have anticipated to be within a house back in the _**Radiant Garden**_, a bookshelf lined entirely with a whole assortment of literature, a fireplace-like section with magical-like flames, and even a motorcycle-shaped vehicle sitting off to the side of the room.

One look at the group and the man was clearly astounded. Even so, he still had to capability to say, "_**Sam**_?"

Riku and Violet both froze in place with the same, strange sensation the young man they had encountered before knew who this older man was. Their feelings were expanded when Sam asked, "Long time?"

The man stared back with what seemed to be a sense of familiarity. "You have no idea."

A minute later, the man had stepped over to where Sam had already planted his feet. By this point, Sora was able to make out the man's appearance. He was wearing long, pure white-colored robes and sporting long, grey hair, and a bushy moustache and beard upon his face. He took a closer look at Sam, sputtering, "You're… you're _here_?"

Less than a second later, the man gave Sam an enormous hug as tears began to form in the former's eyes. "You're _**here**_!"

Sam's eyes immediately began filling with tears of his own. "I'm here… "

Watching from the sidelines, Sora was both startled and mystified. Why was a total stranger giving Sam Flynn such a _caring_-like embrace? Who was this guy? Perhaps the older man was related to Sam? The possibility of such was still evident.

As the man released his arms from around Sam, he said, "You're big!"

Sam was somewhat perplexed. "And you're?"

The older man gave a friendly grin. "Old!"

With that, Sam gave a smile in turn. The older man gestured towards Sora and the others. "Friends of yours?"

Sam nodded. "Yeah."

"CLU had them all on the 'Light Cycle Grid'," Quorra explained as she strode over. "I intervened."

The man gave a nod of understanding. "Dinner," he stated. "We'll talk then."

Seconds after the man had walked off towards the window, Quorra turned to Sam. "He thought he'd never see you again."

Sam nodded. "Yeah!"

Unable to contain his continuously growing number of questions, Sora blurted, "Sam, who _was_ that?!"

Before Sam could answer, Riku spoke up. "Was that a… 'relative'?"

Sam gave another nod. "It's my _**Dad**_ — Kevin Flynn. I haven't seen him since he vanished twenty years ago. He was here all this time… "

"_Yeesh_!" Violet commented. "Something tells me there's a whole story in there."

Sam nodded. "And I'm going to find out what it is at dinner."

Riku crossed his arms. "If I was separated from someone else," he began. "I'd like to know what happened, too."

"Whoa!" Sora's voice perked up. "What is _**this**_?!"

Whirling around to spot what the spikey-haired Keyblade wielder was referring to, the group took note of how he was closely inspecting the motorcycle-shaped vehicle. The machine was shaped almost identically to a typical 'Light Cycle' except it had a little cockpit. The color scheme of it consisted of a silver frame with white-colored armor and yellow-colored circuitry.

"Vintage," Quorra confirmed. "Flynn built it _cycles_ ago for the Games. It doesn't get out as much as it used to, but it's still the fastest thing on the Grid."

"_Cool_!" an excited Sora proclaimed. "Wish I had something that fast. I'd _never_ be late for anything!"

"Better keep wishing," Riku contradicted. "Your mother would _**never**_ approve of something like that!"

Sora paused after Riku had spoken. When was the last time the former had bothered to speak a decent conversation with his own mother? Every time his mom had insisted on something or other, Sora would either refuse or ignore her.

The only time he recalled this being an exception was when his mother had become so flustered with Sora's determination to explore the outside world with his friends Riku (who she thought was nice and 'sweet') and Kairi (who she often referred to as 'The Mayor's Girl') by sailing on a raft they had constructed out of wood. Thus, she had lectured him by telling a story about her older sister — Sora's Aunt Shelly — who had ventured into the unknown for reasons his mother refused to reveal. This had made the brown-haired youth feel slightly uncomfortable. Still, who was his Aunt Shelly? He had long since known his mother's married name was 'Star Hikari', but what type of person had her older sister been? Such query had indirectly influenced Sora to proceed with exploring the outside world. For all he knew, his Aunt Shelly might have been somewhere along the way.

"Forget _me_," Violet spoke up, removing Sora from his pondering. "I would lose control of it in the blink of an eye!"

Riku shook his head and smiled. Noticing this, Sora did the same.

"Do you know it?" Quorra asked, drawing everyone else's eyes to where she was standing with Sam. Situated upon a small table clearly made from wood was a board game with pieces that strongly matched the layout of a typical Chess game. "His patience usually beats my more aggressive strategy."

Approaching the game, Riku took into account of how it was already set to play from the beginning. He turned to Violet and asked, "Want to play some Chess?"

Violet stared back hesitantly. "I… I never learned how!"

"It's _easy_," Riku reassured the Angel of Dreams. "Just give it a try!"

Violet gave a small hint of a possible reddish-tint upon her cheeks. "Okay… I guess."

Riku shook his head when he noticed Sora, Sam, and Quorra looking along the shelf of books. Quorra explained, "Flynn shared them with me. I've read them all!"

"_Light_ reading," Sam smirked in amazement. He began to read the titles. "_Tolstoy_… _War & Peace_… _The Hunger Games_ — must have a killer ending!"

"Yeah," Sora acknowledged as he watched Quorra remove a particular book from the shelf.

"Flynn's teaching me about the 'art of the self-less'," she admitted. "About… 'removing oneself from the equation'. But just between us, Jules Verne is my favorite."

As Sora picked his way along the shelf, the spikey-haired Keyblade wielder overheard Quorra inquiring Sam, "Do you know Jules Verne?"

"Well… sure." Sam responded, unsure how to reply.

Quorra's eyes lit up with extreme curiosity. "What's he like?!"

* * *

Far away from where Sora and the others were currently located, the irregularly-shaped, orange-yellow colored ship was hovering in mid-air. From within the vehicle was the unmistakable form of CLU himself, who happened to be looking at an image being displayed from a disk in his hands. As he watched, the image occasionally transformed from an unusual-looking boy [Sora] into a display of the boy wielding a weapon shaped like 'key-sword'.

"What's this?" CLU muttered in awe. "A… 'Keyblade'?"

After a few moments longer, CLU switched off the display and tossed it to the figure behind him. The figure was the same one Sora had previously encountered moments before Quorra had grabbed him.

After the figure had left the room, CLU murmured under his breath, "_Your_ move, Flynn! _**C'mon!**_"

* * *

As he ate dinner at the table, Riku felt discouraged. For the past hour before the food was ready, Violet and him had been playing four nonstop games of Chess. Ironically, Violet had won every single time. Though the angel had claimed she didn't know how to play, Violet had caught onto the concept especially well for such a short amount of time. All the silver-haired teen could think of doing was challenging her to a rematch.

All of a sudden, Riku detected Sora snatching each item of food and cramming them all into his mouth, much to the annoyance of Violet. With a sigh, Riku simply let the dilemma pass. It was just like Sora to have difficulties with proper table etiquette. Kairi often complained to Riku about how Sora "ate like a pig." All Riku would do was simply smirk and shake his head. Thus, it was no shock that Sora was still acting that way.

As Sora carelessly devoured his fifteenth spoonful of red yogurt with marshmallows, some of it splattered onto Violet's arms and wings. In a state of complete vexation, the angel glowered at Sora. "Sora," she snapped. "Where are your _manners_?!"

"_Manners_," Sora questioned with food still in his mouth. "What are 'manners'?"

Rather than answer, Violet sighed as she turned away and covered her face with her hand. Riku simply rolled his eyes when he noticed that Sam Flynn, his Dad (Kevin Flynn), and Quorra had all witnessed this awkward event unfold. Riku paused for a few moments, before carrying on with his meal. Since Violet was directly across the table from him, Sora's behavior would have been more obvious to Sam and Quorra than anyone else. Fortunately, Quorra was sitting to Riku's right with Sam's dad sitting to his left at the end. He continued to listen as Kevin Flynn was asking his son about how the latter was doing.

Finally, Flynn said, "I believe you must have a few questions of your own, Sam."

"Actually, just _one_," Sam replied.

Riku began to ponder what type of query Sam had been questioning when Flynn spoke up. "Why I never came home?"

All Sam had to do was nod in confirmation.

As Flynn took a deep breath, Riku caught a glimpse of Sora and Violet turning their attention to hear the former's tale. Flynn took a deep breath before saying, "Those nights when I went to the office — you probably figured it out — I was coming here. Human form into digital space — heavy stuff!"

"I'll say… " Riku commented softly.

"But I had you," Flynn continued. "I had _**ENCOM**_, so I couldn't be in here all the time. I needed help."

"Tron and CLU," Sam presumed.

"_**Tron**_," Sora exclaimed. "So this _is_ like Tron's world! I knew it!"

Upon this sudden exclamation, Riku spotted Violet shrugging. He nodded in return, allowing the angel to relax, although still slightly confused.

Based on what he had just learned, the silver-haired Keyblade wielder understood why Sora had assumed the world was familiar to him. In truth, it happened to be the same one Sora had visited with Donald and Goofy during their last adventure. Despite being absent for that particular quest, Riku knew about Tron since Sora had taken the opportunity to fill him in on everything that the former had missed during the brown-haired Keyblader's journey.

"Right," Flynn affirmed. "Tron was created by Alan for the old system. I brought him here to protect this one. CLU was my creation; a perfect program to create a perfect world. We were jamming it up, man; building _**utopia**_! Hours in here were just minutes back home!"

"_**Cool!**_" Sora declared, adding in his random moments of feedback that Riku already knew anyone would care less about.

"Just as I thought it couldn't get any more profound," Flynn stated, causing everyone to pause in surprise. "Something happened… "

"The miracle?" Sam inquired.

"The _**miracle**_," Flynn confirmed. "You remembered! ISOs, Isomorphic Algorithms. A whole new life-form."

"You created them?" Riku finally asked.

Contrary to what he had anticipated, Flynn laughed. "No," he responded. "No, they weren't really… really from _anywhere_! The conditions were right, and they came into being. For centuries, we've dreamed of gods, spirits, aliens — an intelligence beyond our own. I found them in here like flowers in a wasteland. They were _**spectacular**_!"

To say Riku was astounded would be a complete understatement. He listened as Flynn continued, "Everything I had hoped to find in the system — control, order, perfection — _none_ of it meant a thing. I'd been living in a hall of mirrors. The ISOs shattered it. The possibilities of their root code, their digital DNA. Disease? _**History!**_ **_Science_**, **_philosophy_ **— _**every** _idea man has had about the universe up for grabs! Bio-digital Jazz, man!"

Riku nodded in understanding when Flynn finished, "The ISOs, they were going to be my gift to the world."

"So what happened… to your gift," Riku questioned. He had the slightest feeling that there was still more to this story than what would be perceived as a cheerful ending.

"CLU," Flynn explained. "_**CLU**_ happened."

All at once, Violet's necklace began to glow. Everyone stared at it in alarm when Sora said, "Another flashback?"

Violet nodded. "Yes."

She held up her necklace as a projection appeared on the wall opposite the table. A fuzzy image steadily came into focus to show Flynn and a program walking down a street.

* * *

"_Your transport to the portal is almost ready, Mister Flynn," the program rushed. "You know I don't like it when you cut it this close."_

"_Would you stop worrying about it, Tron?" Flynn reassured. "Everything's… going to be fine. Nothing's… going to happen."_

_A sudden voice shouted, "Flynn!"_

_Both Tron and Flynn looked their left where they noticed CLU marching towards them. With a loud, voice, CLU inquired, "Am I _**still** _to create the perfect system?"_

_There was a pause before Flynn nodded. "Yeah," he confirmed._

_Without warning, CLU's head was swiftly concealed inside a helmet. In the process, several other programs steeped into view with similar helmets and disk-shaped weapons._

* * *

Flynn sighed, "It was a **_Coup_**."

* * *

_In a rapid reaction, the hostile programs charged at both Tron and Flynn. In the ensuing chaos, Flynn sprinted away, leaving Tron to retaliate against the enemies with his disk-shaped weapon. Fortunately, Tron managed to strike down each opponent and obtained a second disk in the process. Unfortunately, Flynn's getaway came to an abrupt halt when CLU stepped out from behind a lamppost and snatched him by the neck. The latter declared, "You've been _**corrupted**_!"_

_With a violent thrust, CLU threw Flynn onto the street. Flynn turned around, only to see Tron in the distance attacking two additional enemies with his dual disks. The latter slashed, slammed, and clobbered his weapons into the enemies with exceedingly quick movements._

_As CLU approached Flynn in an attempt to eliminate him, Tron charged at the former and jumped onto his shoulders. Flynn clambered onto his feet as Tron hollered, "Flynn! _**Go**_!"_

_With that, Flynn took off running, even as CLU tossed Tron onto the street. As Flynn hid behind a nearby wall, he heard a scream of terror seconds before the sound of a sickening crunch echoed. Horrified and Saddened, Flynn darted down a side-street and out of sight._

* * *

As the flashback ended, Flynn explained, "_Tron_ — he fought for me. I never saw him again."

Riku was baffled as the projection from Violet's necklace faded and disappeared. He couldn't believe what he had just seen. Sam's Dad, Kevin Flynn, had been betrayed by his own creation — CLU. He took note that Sora was downright miserable. All his friend could say was, "Tron… _**why**_… "

Even though he had never met the computer program Sora had befriended, Riku could still sense the depression of loss his best friend was most-likely feeling. If there was anything worse than losing a friend, it was never getting them back. According to what they had just been told, Tron was gone and never coming back.

Riku snapped back into attention when Sam asked, "So why didn't you fight back?"

"He did," Quorra acknowledged.

"CLU fed on my resistance," Flynn said, not finished with his experience. "The more I fought, the more powerful he became. It was impressive, really. And my miracle, CLU saw the ISOs as an imperfection, so he destroyed them."

"The**_ Purge_**… " Quorra remarked.

"_Purge_," Violet wondered aloud. "What's a 'purge'?"

"A deletion of data," Sam explained.

"Wait," Riku interrupted. "You mean CLU killed _**all**_ the ISOs?!"

"It was _genocide_," Flynn sighed in confession. "I tried to get back home, but I… I couldn't get to the portal. It uses massive power and can't stay open forever. And like a safe, it… it can _**only**_ be opened from the outside."

Flynn looked at his son directly. "It closed on me, Sam," he concluded. "That's why I never came home."

"I see… " Riku remarked. All he could interpret was that Flynn had faced numerous tragedies before getting trapped in a world he had created himself. To his right, he noticed Violet comforting Sora.

Sam got up from the table and stepped up to the nearby window. "So the portal," he said. "It activated when I came in, so it's open now."

"Not for long," Flynn added, approaching his son. "Only one millicycle — about eight hours."

Riku stood up from the table and walked up to the window. He peered into the distance where a tall structure was reaching towards the sky of grey clouds and occasional flashes of lightning. Yet, it was the tiny star of white light floating just above the building that grabbed his attention. He continued to look at it in awe until Sam said, "Then we go now, go home. We'll make a run for it. We'll get you out of here."

"Don't rush, Sam," Flynn interjected.

"What do you mean 'don't rush'," Sam exclaimed. "The portal's going to close!"

"Sounds like a golden opportunity," Riku encouraged. Still, Quorra called out, "Once Flynn's on the Grid, CLU will stop at _nothing_ to obtain his disk."

"Why?" Violet joined along.

"Yeah," Sora spoke up, having finally finished grieving. "What's so special about that disk?"

Flynn turned to everyone around the room before explaining, "My disk is _everything_! It's the master key; the golden ticket; the way out!"

As Flynn turned back to Sam, he added, "And not just for me!"

"What do you mean?" Sam questioned as Riku nodded.

Flynn looked out the window. "Our worlds are more connected than anyone knows. CLU figures if I can be in… "

"…He can be out?" Sam asked.

Flynn nodded. "With my disk… it's possible."

"Then what?" Riku inquired.

"Game over," Flynn responded with what seemed to be a feeling of horror written upon his face. "The guy doesn't dig imperfection."

Turning to face Sam, Flynn added, "What's more imperfect than our world? I _**can't**_ let that happen. _**I won't!**_"

A sensation of realization crept into Riku's mind when he understood what the terrible outcome would be if CLU travelled through the portal. Yet, he still grew aware of his surroundings in time to hear Sam ask, "So what do we do? Nothing?"

"It's amazing how productive doing nothing can be," Flynn replied. "CLU's planning something — we've known that for a while. Programs have been disappearing. There's unrest out there, even revolution. If we sit tight, CLU might be brought down from the inside."

"The portal's closing," Sam argued. "We can't just sit tight."

"Yeah," Sora agreed. "We need to do _something_!"

Flynn looked directly at Sam. "Tell me," he inquired. "What brought you here to the Grid?"

Sam sighed in irritation before stating, "Alan got your page."

"I didn't send any page," Flynn said. "CLU sent that page; that's why you're here. This is all his design. Don't you see? He wanted another piece on the board to _change_ the game! With you he got more than he ever dreamed! This is _precisely_ what he wants! _**It's his game now!**_ The only way to win is not to play!"

"Yeah, well that's a _**h—l**_ of a way to live!" Sam retorted. This brought out looks of surprise upon the faces of Sora and Violet. Riku felt the same surge of shock flow through him despite not showing it. What a shock! Throughout all his adventures with Sora and Mickey, Riku had never heard anyone talk in such an awkward and forceful manner.

"But it _**is**_ a way," Flynn argued. "Sometimes life has a way of moving you past things like wants and hopes."

"That's great, Dad," Sam said in a sarcastic tone of fury. "Keep telling yourself that!"

As Sam stormed out of the room in anger, Flynn sighed. "Good night, Sam."

After Flynn had left the room, Quorra, Sora, Riku, and Violet hurried after Sam. They found him sulking in a hallway.

"Sam?" Riku spoke up.

"How can he be so afraid of his own creation?!" Sam snapped without warning. "He _made_ CLU! Why doesn't he just _**end**_ him?!"

Sora admitted, "I was thinking the same thing."

"He could," Quorra confessed. "But the process would require reintegration. Flynn would not survive the event."

"Then what can we do?" Violet questioned.

"I'm going through that portal," Sam persisted. "It may be CLU's game in here, but outside I can delete him with one keystroke."

Riku paused for a moment. "How would you get there?"

"I know a program who can help," Quorra spoke up. "His name is Zuse. He fought alongside the ISOs."

"Where can I find him?" Sam inquired.

"I'll help you!" Riku added.

Even though Riku seemed to be on the verge of having an adventure of his own, Sora and Violet had both agreed to stay put with Quorra in case anything went wrong.

* * *

**A/N: Now you know the TRUE STORY about what happened to Sam's father, KEVIN FLYNN!**

**Seeing as I do not have much to say today, I'll just conclude...**

**...HERE - PLEASE DON'T LEAVE WITHOUT REVIEWING! THE FATE OF THIS STORY DEPENDS ON IT!**

**This is SoraLego278 saying, "See Ya Later, Keybladers!"**


	17. Ch17 - 'The Game Has Changed'

**DISCLAIMER: I OWN NOTHING EXCEPT MY ORIGINAL CHARACTERS!**

**A/N: Okay! I already am fully well aware I posted this Chapter one week LATE! However, that does NOT mean I'm not going to do it at all! I've just been busy with Summer School-related things. That's REALLY all it is!**

**Either way, I've also been busy watching a variety of Disney Movies this Summer - INCLUDING the new _OZ: The Great & Powerful_!  
I'm also EXTREMELY excited about the upcoming KH -1.5 HD ReMIX- & Kingdom Hearts III!**

**Still, I've been working on this story little by little so I would successfully post the next Chapter as soon as possible!**

**So, without further ado, let's continue with the story of _TRON: Legacy_!**

* * *

**CHAPTER 17  
"The Game Has Changed!"**

"_I __**really**__ owe you one. With all of my functions up and running again, I think I've __got __a chance of getting _System Control_ away from the MCP. I'd better get to work. It's what my User would want."_

"_What Ansem would want…__Listen Tron, we didn't get the password from Ansem. We just sort of…__found it back in the User World__—__by __**accident**__. And one more thing, Ansem…__he was our enemy. I mean…__he __**still**__ is, I guess."_

"_Well, actually…__he's _**my**_ enemy, too."_

"_What do you __**mean**__?__!__"_

"_Ansem took __**ENCOM**__'s original __system__ and customized it for his own use. I was part of the original system, and Ansem modified me too. So, that makes him my User. But Ansem is __**also**__ the one who brought back the MCP. The Ansem I first knew wouldn't do that. I'm sorry I didn't tell you."_

"_Fine, but…__now I _**really**_ don't get it."_

* * *

What did Tron mean by that? This was the query currently moving around through Sora's head. He had heard Sam Flynn's father, Kevin Flynn, mention the corporation Tron had referred to as _**ENCOM**_. Based on the given information, it sounded like Kevin Flynn had once been the head of the company. Yet, what had Tron meant by Ansem obtaining a copy of their computer system? Which Ansem had succeeded in getting their hands onto it? Was it Xehanort's Heartless? Or was it Ansem the Wise — the real Ansem? Such questions had been lacking answers for quite so time.

"Sora?"

Snapping back into attention, the brown-haired Keyblade Master-In-Training took into account of how Violet was looking at him with a look of impatience. It was a moment after when Sora realized he had started pondering right in the middle of a game of Chess with Violet as his opponent. At the moment, the angel seemed to be on the verge of placing her opponent's king into danger. Fortunately, Sora had foreseen such a move coming. With one swift move, he moved his queen straight forward into the back row at the opposite end of the board. Since Violet's king was surrounded by three pawns, Sora let the words escape his lips. "_Checkmate_!"

Violet was either baffled, mystified, or a combination of the two. Her eyes burst with the unmistakable sight of someone being in complete denial. "Not so fast!" she argued. "This isn't… this _cannot_ be… "

It was official; Sora had unexpectedly succeeded in winning against the Angel of Dreams. This came as quite a surprise to her. Just a couple hours prior she had been on a non-stop streak of victories. However, that title of an undefeated champion had just been removed.

With a groan of disbelief, Violet muttered, "Fine! It's Checkmate… "

Sora placed his hands behind his head while his normal smile grew upon his face. Already well aware of how he had beaten an angel, this would be a moment he wanted to remember for a long amount of time.

"Sam?"

The voice made the pair whirl from their seats over to where Kevin Flynn was stepping out his bedroom. As Sam's dad casually proceeded towards the middle of the room, the whole floor became well-lit. Based on this account, Violet concluded that the floor was designed to remain lit whenever Flynn was standing on it. Otherwise, it would stay as dark as the clearest of night skies.

Yet, it was the very image of Flynn searching around the room for his son that made them feel a sensation of concern. A full minute had rapidly flown by when Quorra stepped into the room from the hallway leading back to where she had claimed her own bedroom was situated.

Taking notice of how Sam's dad was staring out the window creating from a grid of perfectly-organized dots, Quorra carefully strode up to him with Sora and Violet following directly behind.

"Prepare the Light Runner, Quorra," Flynn instructed, not bothering to turn and face the others gathered behind him. "We're going downtown."

Both Sora and Violet stared at each other in total shock and worry. For all they knew, Kevin Flynn had somehow discovered the secret they had all be hiding in regards to Sam Flynn and Riku.

"They'll be fine," Quorra spoke up. "I sent them to someone we can _trust_!"

"Quorra," Flynn retaliated. "There is no other choice. Chaos — _good_ news!"

* * *

Still sitting in the cockpit of his irregular-shaped ship, CLU's patience was already dwindling to the point where he just felt like de-rezzing any program he could get his clutches onto.

The air-lock-shaped door behind him opened and CLU caught a glimpse of a particular official of his military approaching him. Though their uniform was mostly the same as the other soldiers, this exact program also possessed a bald head with a curved piece of metal covering over a portion of it. Aware of the countless identities of the members of his personal Black Guard, CLU already knew this official the instant they had entered. Their name happened to be Jarvis.

"Sir," Jarvis began explaining the recent update he had just received. "Sentries downtown have recovered Flynn's Light Cycle. We have traced it to its point of origin."

Without a word, CLU placed his hand upon Jarvis's shoulder. Not long ago, the former had been considering de-rezzing the official primarily due to his overwhelming curiosity and uncontrollable clumsiness. Nonetheless, he had finally found some other form of usefulness for Jarvis after all.

With a faint hint of a smile coming to be on his face, CLU spoke to his companion. "Well done," he complemented. "I've been considering your requests and might have found the perfect position for a program with the capabilities like yours… "

* * *

Riku was starting to feel disheartened. Barely three minutes ago, Sam Flynn and him had traded the Light Cycle, Vintage, to a program that strongly resembled a homeless stranger begging for some form of money or other. In exchange, they had obtained a pair of disguises to prevent any of the members enlisted in CLU's infamous Black Guard from recognizing them.

Although the homeless program had managed to distract some of the guards in the vicinity while zooming down the streets way too quickly, the duo soon noticed how the clouds overhead had recently grown extremely thick. The result was a sudden downpour of precipitation in the form of liquid water.

As the twosome approached one of the city's tall skyscrapers, a voice called out, "Sam Flynn?"

Startled, both Riku and Sam twirled around. Standing directly behind them was a young woman wearing a white-colored, skintight suit with yellowish-tinted circuitry. Her eyelashes were long and her face gave Riku the sensation of staring at a plastic doll. In the woman's hands was a clear, plastic umbrella.

"Remember me?" she questioned. "It's a shame we met the way we did."

Sam gave a short nod before turning away. Riku was puzzled. Who was this strange girl claiming to have met Sam earlier?

"You're looking for someone," the woman assumed, causing both Riku and Sam to halt in their tracks. "Who is it?"

For a brief minute, the silver-haired teenager and the young man stared at one another. It was quite clear they had no clue about how to answer without accidentally spilling the beans. Finally turning back, Sam replied, "Zuse. He fought alongside the ISOs. Where can I find him?"

"I can take you to him," the woman stated.

* * *

A few minutes later, the three individuals were gathered inside an elevator and soaring to the top floor of the tallest skyscraper in the city's skyline. As they continued at such a super-fast pace, Sam stammered, "Thanks, um… "

"Gem," the woman introduced. "My name is Gem."

"I'm Riku," Riku returned the introduction. He did not wish to admit it, but the silver-haired Keyblader had the feeling something fishy was happening.

The elevator's doors opened, allowing the trio to step off and approach the interior of an enormous, open-spaced room with glass windows. As they strolled into the area, loud music could be heard playing from a pair of DJs in one corner of the place. Without a word, Gem led both Riku and Sam through the crowd of various programs and over to a small cluster of programs.

"His name is Castor," Gem explained. "If you want to speak with Zuse, you have to go through him."

Riku paused for a second. "Sounds fair to me."

"Yeah," Sam affirmed.

In no time, the three had seized the attention of a specific program. It was a tall, thin man with a similar appearance to Gem. His clothing consisted of a white suit covered by a white-greyish-colored coat. In his hands was a cane in the same shade as that of mounds of fresh snow. With a loud voice, the figure shouted something that Riku was only able to make out the last portion of. "…_for_ _**everybody**_!"

Turning to Gem, Sam, and Riku, the man calmly introduced himself. "I'm _Castor_, your host. _What_ can I do for you?"

"We're looking for Zuse," Riku responded.

Castor seemed to have taken this as sarcasm. "Indeed," he murmured. "Many are. They all come here — to the End of Line Club."

"Where can I find him?" Sam persisted.

Castor nodded before escorting the group up a flight of steps to the second floor of the club. In the tiny room above, Riku inquired, "When do we meet Zuse?"

Castor smiled. "You… just… _did_!"

Out of the corner of his eye, Riku thought he saw Gem giving a nod of agreement. If that was the case, Castor really _was_ Zuse.

"After the Purge," Castor continued. "I needed to 'reinvent' myself. The ISOs have since vanished for good and I prefer to be the one playing all the angles. You understand, perhaps?"

He happened to be looking straight at Sam. Taking note of this unusual behavior, Riku began to ponder. Where had he heard someone speak like Castor/Zuse was? From some odd reason, the silver-haired youth had the feeling the last person he recalled speaking in this format might very well have been someone on the side of the Darkness rather than the Light.

"I _need_ to get to the Portal," Sam finally clarified. The reactions from everyone else in the room were no different than someone would have expected if the young man were putting his foot in the door.

For a brief moment, Castor was hesitant, though his ridiculous grin was still glued upon his lips. "Well now," he responded. "Then you'll be needing a form of transportation."

"Why's _that_?" Riku interrogated.

Castor answered, "The Portal lies far beyond the outlands and well out-of-reach for travelling on foot. You didn't think Sam's father wanted any programs 'slipping out' _accidentally_, did you?"

Riku crossed his arms in response.

"But," Castor added. "As a man who _prides_ himself on staying well-informed, may I inquire as to the identity of _who_ sent you two to see me."

"Her name is Quorra," Sam replied instantly. "She said she met you a long time ago."

Castor's grin grew to a point where it seemed to look darker than anticipated. "_Indeed_, she did."

Before anyone could speak anything else, the sounds of glass shattering and screams echoed about the clubroom. Hastily whirling to see what had happened, Riku and Sam realized a number of the guards they had encountered before had invaded the room through the room overhead.

All Sam could say was, "He's playing on the _angles_!"

The duo leaped down the floor below where Sam immediately began using his disk-shaped weapon to fight the hostile soldiers. Riku summoned his Keyblade in the blink of an eye and charged into the ensuing chaos.

From the room above, Castor proclaimed, "The _game has_ _**changed**_, son of _**Flynn**_!"

* * *

Although he continued to slash and stab his weapon through the invaders, Riku was on the verge of becoming extremely worn-out. Exhaustion was already creeping into place and he wasn't sure whether or not he could maintain the necessary capabilities to defend himself.

As what might have been the two hundredth soldier charged at him, the silver-haired Keyblade wielder began to feel dizzy. He raised his weapon, but was now expected the worst to happen. All of a sudden, the advancing soldier had been eliminated.

Reopening his closed eyelids, Riku took into account of the figure directly in front of him. It was an angel with the calming effect from the radiance of Light she possessed. Her violet-color glow made it evident who she was. Violet, the Angel of Dreams, had shown up to protect the Keyblader.

"Violet," Riku said. "Why are _you_ here?"

"Sam's dad thought his son was in danger," Violet explained. "Quorra tried to reassure him, but it was no good."

Nearby, Riku spotted Quorra fighting a multitude of soldiers single-handedly. All at once, a group of soldiers grabbed her and held out her arm. Before he could dart over, the soldiers had sliced off Quorra's right arm from the elbow down. She was now lying on the floor like a ragdoll.

Shocked and astounded, Riku failed to notice a soldier charging straight at him from behind. Fortunately, Violet had leapt into the way, only to get her right wing sliced through by the enemy's disk-shaped weapon. With a howl of pain, the angel collapsed onto the floor, withering in agony.

In a state of total fury, Riku slammed his weapon through the soldier before the latter could retaliate. "_**That**_ was for Violet!" the Keyblader snorted.

In the meantime, the silver-haired youth had just taken into account of how dark and still the clubroom had become. Spinning around, Riku spotted Sam's dad — Kevin Flynn — kneeling on the tiled floor. From behind the older man came the obvious figure of a frantic Sora.

"_**Violet**_!" Sora exclaimed as he grabbed the angel's shoulders.

"_**Sora**_!" Riku shouted. "_Don't_ touch her!"

Instead of arguing, Sora had clearly noticed the injury on Violet's wing. Therefore, it came as no surprise when the brown-haired youth cautiously assisted Riku in carrying the Angel of Dreams to the elevator where Sam and his dad had successfully managed to bring the unconscious Quorra to. As the elevator doors slammed shut, a claw-like object snatched something from Kevin Flynn's back.

Moments later, the group was speedily flying down the elevator shaft. Unfortunately, an explosion suddenly occurred from above, causing them to fall faster than expected.

"We're out of control!" Sora declared.

Riku nodded. "Then _do_ something!"

"_**What**_?!" Sora countered. "How do you _stop_ _an __**elevator**_?!"

At that precise instant, the elevator swiftly slowed down and came to a halt at a wide, octagon-shaped platform. As the doors opened, everyone realized Sam's dad had mysteriously hacked into the system of the elevator controls and succeeded in preventing them from a crash-landing. However, that was not all.

"Your disk," Sam realized. "Dad, it's gone."

The truth was now crystal-clear. Kevin Flynn's disk — the 'Master Key' itself — had been stolen in the chaos up above. All Sam's dad did was mutter, "It is."

Sam sighed. "I can set this right, but you have to let me do this."

"You've done _enough __**already**_!" Sam's father snapped.

Sora and Riku were speechless. They had barely known the father and son, and still they had witnessed a number of disagreements involving some form of argument.

"Then… what can we do?" Sora questioned.

"Nothing," Kevin Flynn answered. "We do nothing. Be still… "

After a few minutes of unbearable silence, Sam's dad asked, "You ever jump a freight-train?"

"What?" Sam asked. Sora and Riku were as equally mystified as the young man was.

"We'll do it your way," Sam's dad explained. "A full-on sprint to the Portal. We can beat CLU there."

Leaning down to where Quorra's unconscious body was situated in the elevator, Kevin Flynn added, "She's stable. Let's get her out of here."

As Sam gently lifted Quorra into his arms, both Sora and Riku did the same for the now-semi-conscious Violet. They proceeded in the direction of a strange spaceship-like vehicle with a cargo of crate-shaped containers.

As the ship started up, its group of six passengers approached the front of it. A pair of blue sails came into view as the vehicle began to soar down a light-blue-colored beam of Light into the direction of the Portal ahead.

"This will take us there," Kevin Flynn announced.

One glance at the vehicle and Sora instantly realized it was a Solar Sailor — just like the one Tron had used to transport Sora, Donald, Goofy, and himself straight to the lair of the MCP. Although he still wasn't quite sure why, the brown, spikey-haired Keyblade wielder was feeling an overload of excitement.

* * *

The past two hours had flown by rapidly. Bored at the sight of nothing interesting in the distance, Sora simply stood with Riku as they both watched Kevin Flynn and Sam Flynn use Quorra's disk to delve into a projection of her code. Not long ago, they had succeeded in recovering Violet from her damaged wing in a similar manner, though the angel was currently slouched against one of rectangular-shaped crates aboard the Solar Sailor. Nevertheless, Violet wing now contained a decent-sized tear within. The torn wing was gradually filling itself in, but it was still quite obvious it was going to take a lengthy amount of time to finish.

"Will she be alright?" Sam asked his dad with what seemed to be like the millionth question.

"I don't know," his father returned. "I have to identify the damaged code. This programming sequence is extremely complex."

"But didn't you write her code?" Sora inquired.

"Some of it," Sam's dad confessed. As a strand of DNA-resembling piece of data appeared in the projection, everyone awed in amazement. "The rest is just… _beyond_ me."

Sam's eyes lit up in astonishment. "She's an _**ISO**_!"

"I thought you said the ISOs were _all_ killed by CLU!" Sora blurted before anyone could stop him.

"They were," Kevin Flynn added. "Except one. Quorra is the _last_ ISO."

"All this time," Sam realized. "You were just… protecting her."

"She's the miracle, man," his dad confirmed. "Everything I ever strived for. This is it."

"Wow," Violet finally spoke up having been silent for an extensive amount of time. "You must have worked _really_ hard."

Sam nodded. "This place must have been amazing before CLU screwed it up."

"Yeah," Sora agreed.

"No," Kevin Flynn denied. "He's… he's _**me**_! _I_ screwed it up! Chasing after perfection! Chasing after what was right in front of me!"

As he looked the group directly in their eyes, Sam's dad finished, "_**Right**_ in front of me!"

Sam didn't notice. "Look what you've accomplished… "

"Sam," Kevin Flynn added. "I'd have given it all up for one more day with you."

Having overheard this entire conversation, Riku began to stroll down the rest of the deck. When he took note of how Sora was following behind, the silver-haired Keyblader smiled. "Look too hard for one thing," he stated. "And you'll miss everything else. Then, the people around you get hurt in the process."

Sora commented, "That story sounds familiar… "

"Yeah," Riku agreed with a nod. "Like… _**Xehanort**_!"

* * *

**A/N: What did Riku mean by "Like Xehanort?" THAT'S the question I'll be leaving as a Cliff-Hangar for the beginning of Chapter 18.**

**In the meantime, I have TWO things to state.**

**ONE: I've recently gone back and did my best to make the formatting of this story remain as consistent as possible. For instance, I made all the Flashbacks in the same, exact format so they would stand out better. The other case is with Emphasis, which I'm certain you've already become well-informed about. IF you want to take a look at what I mean, check out the previous Chapters BEFORE THIS ONE! That's all!**

**TWO: PLEASE DON'T LEAVE WITHOUT REVIEWING! THE FATE OF THIS STORY DEPENDS ON IT!**

**This is SoraLego278 saying, "See Ya Later, Keybladers!"**


	18. Ch18 - Reconfigured Friendships

**DISCLAIMER: I OWN NOTHING EXCEPT MY ORIGINAL CHARACTERS!**

**A/N: ** **SO... It's been... well... about a day since I posted Chapter 17. Yet, I had been waiting to write this particular chapter for a LONG TIME!**

**Seeing as _TRON: Legacy_ happens to be one of my TOP 3 FAVORITE DISNEY MOVIES, I thought I should add additional detail with this chapter.**

**Also, in case NO ONE NOTICED, I've been trying my best to write these Chapters from my Memory. Unfortunately, this particular Chapter required me to watch the movie - again, which I've been wanting to do for quite some time now. Thus, I may have written word-for-word what the characters said, but I'm certain I've managed to change it up enough to make it somewhat creative.**

**Nevertheless, it has come to attention how I have only received a total of FIFTEEN [15] REVIEWS! IF you truly wish for me to post my next story on here, I'm going to need at least ONE HUNDRED [100] REVIEWS BEFORE THIS STORY ENDS!**

**Anyways, now that I've gotten THAT out of the way, here's... CHAPTER 18! ENJOY... AND REVIEW - PLEASE! I NEED REVIEWS!**

* * *

**CHAPTER 18  
Reconfigured Friendships**

Sora was taken aback in less than an instant. He was unable to believe what he had not ten seconds before heard his best friend say. Riku had just compared the story of Kevin Flynn to that of Master Xehanort's tale. How could that be?

Well, sure the silver-haired Keyblade Master-In-Training had informed Sora about how Eugene Fitzherbert's own account seemed significantly similar to Xehanort. However, that had been what felt like a lifetime ago when they had awakened the Sleeping World of _**Corona**_. Why would he bring the same concept back into the conversation — again? It didn't seem like something the now-seventeen-year-old teenager would have done.

Despite all this bouncing around in his head, Sora only spoke two words, "Why's _that_?"

Riku turned to look at him directly. With a sigh, the silver-haired youth elaborated his claim. "Xehanort's thirst for answers created his _Heartless_; _**Ansem**_," he informed his friend. "We _all_ have a little of that curiosity in us."

Sora crossed his arms in contemplation. "So," he summarized. "You mean… if we're not careful… _any_ of us could create an 'Ansem'?"

His query was confirmed by a simple nod from Riku. "Yeah," the silver-haired Keyblade wielder stated. "Only, _we_ might not create a Heartless like he did."

Sora uncrossed his arms before giving a nod. "Of course!"

At that moment, the duo realized their entire conversation had been overheard by Violet. While the angel was standing a few yards down the narrow path of the long deck on the Solar Sailor, she had been close enough to hear every word the two had spoken.

"What's up?" Sora questioned without a moment's hesitation.

With a shake of her head, Violet gave a small smile. From the previous journeys the angel had been on with the spikey-haired sixteen-year-old youth, she had become aware of how Sora typically was eager to do anything without taking the opportunity to ensure it was the better option. Hence, the Keyblader had sometimes gotten himself into all sorts of trouble throughout their quest. Nevertheless, Violet could tell his intentions were positive, even if his strategy was often not checked for any flaws and had to be made up on such short notice. "I came to… _thank_ both of you," she expressed. "You saved me from _certain _death back there."

"Of course!" Sora cheerfully accepted. "_You_ would've done the same for us!"

"Yeah," Riku acknowledged. "You protected me when I was about to faint. What _could_ I have done to repay you for risking your life like that?"

"'_Some things are __**worth**__ the risk_,'" Violet admitted. "Flynn said so when Sam referred to how Quorra put her _own_ life on the line for him."

"Sure… " Riku nodded in turn. Deep down, he had the unusual feeling of gratefulness swirling around his chest. Uncertain what this meant, he paused for a few moments to take a few, deep breaths. If this was _anything_ like how Sora felt and reacted around Kairi, Naminé, or _**any**_ other girl….

He shoved the thought aside. Love and romance just wasn't his cup of tea. Truthfully, he was strong, handsome, intelligent… but _none_ of it was ever adequate enough for the _horrific_ calamity he had been forced to witness long ago — back when he was in alignment with Maleficent's team of villains stationed within the ruined fortifications consisting of the castle of _**Hollow Bastion**_….

* * *

_Maleficent was not amused. "You were supposed to retrieve the Princess of Heart," she lectured. "_**Not**_ rescue some… __**girl**__ from a pack of Heartless."_

"_I thought you said you wanted me to be happy," Riku struck back._

_Maleficent snorted. "I agreed to help you find what you've been searching for. Nowhere in there did I say about anyone else."_

"_She __**isn't**__ like that!" Riku argued. "Niccole is… __**different**__."_

"_Of __**course**__ she is," the evil fairy scoffed. "You care about her."_

"_What do you mean?!" Riku interrogated._

"_It's really quite simple," Maleficent responded. "You should not fall for something as insignificant as… love."_

"'**Love**_?!" the silver-haired fifteen-year-old exclaimed in shock. "That's not it!"_

"_You can deny it," Maleficent continued. "But, it will only prevent you from realizing your _**true **_**potential**__."_

"_I sincerely doubt it!" Riku challenged._

_Maleficent gave an evil smile in return. "It's a matter of will," she clarified, rubbing the green sphere at the tip of her staff with her clawed fingers. "Your heart has Darkness just waiting to be awakened!"_

_Before he could react, Riku began to lose consciousness at an extremely rapid pace. At that moment, the doors to the room opened and a pair of individuals stepped inside. One was a tall, blue-skinned man with fiery hair and wearing a black cloak fastened by a skull-shaped emblem. The other was a slender, teenage girl with reddish hair that spikey downward. She was wearing an unzipped, sea-green-colored jacket, yellow shirt, blue mini-skirt, orange boots, and a blue bracelet upon her left wrist with a matching scarf tied around her waist. Her deep blue eyes were filled with terror as she was thrust forwards to before where Riku stood. Stumbling over, she immediately collapsed onto the hard, stone floor of the so-called chapel._

"_Good work, Hades," Maleficent proclaimed with an evil grin on her lips._

"_Hey," Hades returned the compliment. "I'm the one you can always count on! Remember?"_

_The girl squirmed at the very image of seeing Riku's eyes full of a greenish-tinted magical cloud. "_**Riku!**_" she hollered. "_**Stop!**_** Don't give in! **_**Fight!**_"_

* * *

As he snapped back to reality, Riku gave the deepest sigh he ever had known to do. The entire recollection of Niccole's fate constantly made his mind overflow with an extensive list of regrets. Why hadn't he seen Maleficent's true colors before? How was it possible for the witch to have taken control over him? Why had he been able to recall those last few words leaving Niccole's mouth? What had she meant? He was certain such questions would never receive their proper answers.

Taken into account of how both Sora and Violet had ventured back down the complete length of the deck, the silver-haired youth speedily followed suit. By the time he had reached the group, everyone except Sam's father was gathered around the still-unconscious being of Quorra. To his surprise, the female ISO had mysteriously regrown the missing portion of her arm and had her disk returned to the slot-like position on her back.

"Where's Flynn?" Riku inquired, drawing the attention of the three sitting around Quorra's body.

"I think he said he would be 'knocking on the sky'," Sora stated in an attempt to provide an explanation to his friend's query.

"Yeah," Sam affirmed. "That's what he said."

Riku shook his head in disbelief when he caught sight of Kevin Flynn through his peripheral vision. The older man was sitting on the floor of the highest section of the deck with his legs crossed and eyes closed. The whole image caused the silver-haired Keyblader to picture Sam's dad as being in a state of meditation.

* * *

The celebration taking place inside the End of Line Club had long since disappeared after the invasion of the hostile soldiers. The only ones still located in the large clubroom were Castor and Gem. At the moment, the pair were having a face-to-face meeting with CLU himself. The leader of the programs had travelled all the way to the club upon learning about how Castor had obtained Kevin Flynn's disk. The only other individuals standing in the area were Jarvis (looking nervously at Gem) and Rinzler (who had been leading the invasion of soldiers under orders from CLU).

"When Flynn entered the space," Castor marveled at the intently-listening CLU. "_**Everything**_ _changed_! I've never seen anything quite like it. The awe was… _**palpable**_!"

CLU appeared to be unamused. After hearing this statement, the program had the undeniable feeling Castor, or Zuse as he had once been named, knew a little too much information. "_Was_ it?"

"I presume," Castor continued with now-growing hints of uncertainty and persuasion. "Our understanding is still valid?"

As CLU proceeded to stir a few items into a glass of liquid substance, Castor added, "Control of the city? A sizeable request, I know."

As he peered through the center of Flynn's disk, Castor pressed on. "But seemingly fitting compensation. Don't you think?"

He now had CLU's undivided attention as the latter had just finished making the drink for the former. "How long have you been searching for this, CLU?" Castor inquired. "About a _thousand_ cycles. No? Just imagine… the _**secrets**_ it holds."

CLU gave a smirked laugh as he watched Castor shake the disk mockingly. "The Master Key to any and all riddles of the _**Grid**_, _Grid_, Grid… "

Taking note of how CLU was staring at him, Castor added, "But there's something else, too. Isn't there? I've heard the chatter about this 'private initiative.'"

By this point, CLU was standing directly in front of him with the special-made drink held out. Though having the slightest hint of reluctance, Castor willing traded Flynn's priceless disk for the drink prepared by CLU himself.

"I realize," Castor added. "That our alliance is… at times… uneasy. But always necessary. You know you need me — _right_ where I am… CLU?"

CLU smile became even creepier than Castor had ever seen it before. "Of _course_ you're right. Enjoy the drink."

As CLU marched back to a nearby doorway leading onto the uppermost balcony of the skyscraper, Jarvis and Rinzler followed suit. At the same time, a group of CLU's Back Guards revealed themselves from the shadows of the vicinity. Hastily proceeding after their commanders, they stepped aside to reveal what happened to be a series of circular-shaped devices fastened onto the walls. The sounds of a ticking clock rang out from each and every one of the gizmos.

With a laugh from the now-closing door leading to the balcony, CLU yelled, "_**End**__ of line_, man!"

Castor was appalled. Not only had CLU refused to place the authority of the city into his hands, but the program had betrayed him to the point where the walls of the clubroom were rigged with timed explosives. Terrified, Gem clung onto his arm as Castor let the glass in his hands slip free. The cup never had the chance to hit the floor and shatter on impact.

The last thing either of the duo saw was a fiery explosion incinerating everything in sight and destroying the once-popular site of the End of Line Club.

* * *

It was an instant event. The second Quorra had come to, she jolted upright in fear and concern. While Sora, Riku, and Violet all leaped backwards in surprise, Sam Flynn placed his hand onto the program's left shoulder. "It's okay," he reassured her. "We're safe now."

"We're on our way to the Portal," Riku explained.

Quorra let out a deep sigh of relief, though her eyes were still full of fright. "CLU has the disk!" she realized with a hint of shock and worry.

"Once I get outside," Sam calmly interrupted. "I can shut him down."

Instead of feeling confident, Quorra shook her head as though she was experiencing a state of guilt. "I should never have sent you or Riku to Zuse," she confessed. "It was a mistake!"

"It's okay," Sam calmly stated. "I've made a few myself."

"Yeah," Riku agreed. "But Sora's made _too_ many to count."

Sora was astonished. "Look who's talking!" he countered with a smirked grin displayed on his face.

Violet shook her head and smiled. "This must be what they mean by '_true_ friends'," she said. "Even squabbling can't separate _**these**_ two easily!"

With a couple of deep breaths, Quorra sat up. Sam handed her a small, cylinder-shaped gadget, which she gladly accepted without wasting a single instant. Her eyes swept all across the vehicle. "Where is he?"

Sam smiled. "I think he's 'knocking on the sky… '"

"…And listening to the sound." Quorra finished.

Riku nodded when he heard Sam question, "How did you find him?"

"Yeah," Sora approved. "How'd you meet Sam's dad?"

For a few minutes, Quorra was showing indication of complete discomfort and anxiety. Clearly she was unaware of the fact Kevin Flynn had informed the others about her true identity as an ISO — the last one of her kind.

"It's alright," Sam confirmed. "We all know."

Violet gave a nod. "You were an ISO… "

"…You're the last one," Riku added.

"But," Sora inquired. "How did you survive?"

With a slow glance over everyone looking at her for a response, Quorra took a deep sigh. "It was during the _Purge_," she began. "CLU was _**relentless**_. The Black Guard were executing ISOs in the streets. Everyone I knew… _**disappeared**_. Then they came for me."

Sora was almost speechless. "That's… that's _**terrible**_!"

Riku asked, "What did you do?"

"I ran," Quorra continued. "A sympathetic program smuggled me out of the city, but soon they had me surrounded. I prepared for the end."

"How _**dreadful**_!" Violet exclaimed in reaction to the account.

"Just as everything was going dark," Quorra added. "I felt a hand on my shoulder. When I opened my eyes, standing above me… was the _Creator_."

Sora, Riku, and Violet all exchanged quick glances of utter perplexity. The 'Creator'? Who was the 'Creator'?

Quorra smiled in the direction where Sam was listening. "Your father," she admitted. "He _**saved**_ me. I guess you could say I'm… a _rescue_."

Violet, Riku, and Sora were all astounded. Quorra — the last of the race called 'ISOs' — had been rescued from CLU's hostility by Sam's father. Now they understood what she had meant previously. Kevin Flynn was the 'Creator' himself.

"That's quite a story," Sora muttered aloud.

"Yeah," Riku stated with a nod. "But it had a happy ending."

After everyone had given nods of agreement in return, they tried their best to relax as the Solar Sailor proceeded into the direction of the Portal. As the bluish-tinted illumination shone out from behind the patch of greyish clouds gradually moving through the sky, Sam gave a deep smile. "What a _view_!"

"You know it!" Sora acknowledged, causing Riku to give a shake of his head and smile a smirked grin.

Quorra nodded. "It used to let us know Flynn was here. It became the symbol of something _bigger_, something… _better_ than this world. I've _never_ been this close before!"

"Really?" Violet inquired.

With a nod, Quorra added, "It's how I imagine a sunrise would be."

"Oh," Sora murmured in understanding. "I see."

"Trust me," Sam blurted. "There's no comparison."

Quorra looked excited. "What's it like?"

Sam was as startled as everyone else. "The Sun?"

Noticing the nodding head of Quorra, Sam smirked, "Man… I've never had to describe it before."

Taking note of how the young man was looking for assistance with describing how the sun looked, Sora and Riku immediately jumped into the conversation.

"Warm," Sora stated.

"Radiant," Riku added.

"Beautiful," Sam finished.

Quorra smiled so brilliantly, Violet concluded that the description of this 'Sun' was more-than-likely accurate. Before anyone knew it, several minutes had zoomed past.

All at once, a voice hollered, "Get _below_!"

In a complete state of shock and surprise, Sora, Riku, and Violet speedily followed Sam and Quorra as the twosome dashed down to where the deck of the vehicle was primarily shrouded from sight by the crates stacked on board its cargo spaces.

"What's going on?" Sora asked as they group huddled down behind the crates of unknown cargo.

Taking a super-hasty glance up from their hiding place, Riku realized the Solar Sailor was slowing down as it entered a hangar within a humungous, orange-colored spaceship with bright-yellow circuitry. A ship that matched the description of the Recognizers from earlier was in the process of docking inside.

"This isn't supposed to _be_ here!" Sam's dad declared.

* * *

As the Solar Sailor came to a gradual halt, Riku, Sora, and Violet were all ducked down with Sam Flynn, Kevin Flynn, and Quorra amongst the solid blue crates situated about the length of the vehicle. As the sounds of the hangar filled their ears, Riku turned his eyes at one of the crates, only to have an unknown light inside flip on, revealing human-like forms of data being stored from within. Violet covered her mouth to prevent herself from screaming. Riku was shocked silent as he heard Quorra softly exclaim, "What _is_ this place?!"

"CLU can't create new programs," Sam's dad explained. "He can only destroy or repurpose them."

Whatever Riku wanted to know was probably what everyone else already wanted to know. Where had they all ended up? What was CLU up to in here? Even more important, how would they all get to the Portal? He was so deep in thought, that he hardly heard Sora call out, "Look!"

Riku turned his eyes at his best friend, only to see what had grasped the attention of everyone else, too. Down on a lower level of the hangar, groups of programs wielding spears were marching in military style towards a nearby platform. Everywhere else, cranes were moving crates that resembled the blocks on the Solar Sailor. Workers were scattered about, unloading the crates full of deactivated programs, processing them through machinery, and reprogramming them as additional workers and spear-wielding soldiers. Riku was astounded. "He's building anarmy," Sam concluded.

"But… why?" Sora wondered aloud.

"Let's get closer," Riku suggested. "We should investigate."

Quorra nodded, before leading the group down an exit stairway to the floor of the hangar. All at once, she stopped and peeked out from behind the railing. Riku took a peek and gasped. Patrolling from a nearby stack of crates was _Rinzler_. _**Perfect!**_ Now an extremely dangerous program was blocking their path. Riku was about to point him out when Quorra removed her disk from her back. She handed it to Sam's dad before looking at everyone straight in their eyes. With a calm voice, she declared, "Goodbye."

With that, Quorra took off running from the stairway and headed towards Rinzler. The latter rapidly spotted her and pursued in the blink of an eye. Before Riku or the others could do anything, Rinzler had already apprehended Quorra and was leading her away as a prisoner.

"She's removing herself from the equation," Kevin Flynn said.

"We can't just let her go," Sam added.

"Yeah," Riku overheard himself say.

"Wait," Sora said. "Was that… _**Tron**_?!"

Sam's dad took another look at Rinzler when he exclaimed, "_Tron_! He's _**alive**_!"

"_**Tron**_," Sora yelled. "Wait for me, Tron!"

In less than a second, Sora sprinted after both Rinzler and Quorra. Violet hollered out, "_**Sora**_!"

"_**Sora**_," Riku shouted in turn. "We should stay together!"

When his best friend didn't respond, Riku sighed deeply. "Great," he muttered. "Now we have two to rescue!"

"Let's hurry," Sam said. "No telling what CLU will do to them."

"Wait Sam," Kevin Flynn said. "What about getting you to the Portal? You can shut them down from the outside."

"But Quorra and Sora come first," Sam countered. "And we _**still**_ have to get back your disk!"

"Sam," his father retaliated. "If you chase two rabbits, you won't catch either."

"Rabbits," Violet enquired. "What does this have to do with _rabbits_?"

"If this is a father-son thing, I won't butt in," Riku said. "But we should get back that disk at least _before_ CLU uses it for… whatever he's been planning."

"What would he do with something as simple as a disk?" Violet inquired.

Kevin Flynn was about to speak when the group thought they heard shouts and cheers coming from the army of programs assembled in front of the platform. The group watched as CLU stood at a podium at the middle of the platform and proclaimed, "Greetings programs! Together, we have achieved a great, many things. We've created a vast, complex system. We've maintained it. We have rid it of its imperfection. Let there be no doubt that our world is a cage no more. The key to the final frontier is _in_ _our_ _**possession**_! With it, I will make their world available to _**all**__ of us_! There, our system will blossom! _**Prove**_ yourselves to me! Be _**loyal**_ to me, and _I_ will _**never**_ _betray you_!"

Riku gave a roll of his eyes. He knew CLU was lying without any doubt.

"My vision is clear," CLU added. "Out there is a new world! Out there is our victory! Out there is… our _**destiny**_!"

The hangar jolted as the entire area started to move. He looked ahead only to realize that the hangar they were standing in was a part of an enormous battleship. To make matters worse, it was travelling directly towards the portal.

"He's taking all of this _with_ him!" Sam exclaimed.

"He's figured out how to do it," his dad added.

"Do what," Violet asked. "What's CLU trying to do?"

"Get out through the Portal," Riku answered, staring right at the distant portal. "He's going to _**destroy**__ the outside world_!"

"We have to _**stop**_ him!" Violet exclaimed.

Riku turned back to the others. "C'mon, Sam," he persisted.

Sam nodded before turning to his father. "Dad," he began. "'We're _always_ on the same team', remember?"

Kevin Flynn sighed. "I was afraid you would say that," he muttered.

Sam nodded. "Meet us on the flight deck and get some wheels."

"'Wheels'?" his dad asked in confusion. "What's your plan?"

"I'm a User," Sam smirked. "I'll improvise."

With that, Sam, Riku, and Violet started darting down the floor of the hangar. Riku looked around, feeling grateful that none of CLU's hostile programs were around. As far as he could tell, they were all gathered at the assembly.

"Riku! Violet," Sam called out. "We've got to save Quorra and Sora, too!"

"I know," Riku answered. "We will."

"But where would CLU keep that disk?" Violet wondered.

Sam came to a sudden stop, forcing Riku to halt in his tracks and Violet to unexpectedly crash into the latter. Sam pointed up towards a single orange-colored ship situated upon the tallest of the platforms. He said, "The disk should be on the Throneship! It's over there!"

"Got it!" Riku affirmed.

"Let's go," Violet agreed. "We're running out of time."

* * *

Although he was desperate to track down his friend, Sora had abruptly come to a dead end. He swept his eyes this way and that, but there was still no sign of Rinzler or Quorra. With a surge of discouragement, the brown, spikey-haired teenager collapsed onto the floor. He sighed, "_**Tron**_… where _are_ you?"

The unmistakable sound of a dark portal opening and closing echoed from behind. Jumping onto his feet, Sora whirled around to spot the same, young man dressed in the black-hooded coat as the latter had been wearing during his previous appearances in _**Traverse Town**_, _**Corona**_, _**Pixie Hollow**_, and _**Rascal's Dreamland**_. In a slightly-deep voice, the figure said, "That's what we do, put the most-precious memories deep into our hearts where they're safe. Or in your case, the most-precious… hearts?"

Sora was nearly to the point of being utterly speechless. He glared at the stranger. "_Not_ you again!"

"The memory and heart are tightly linked," a second, deeper voice called out.

Spinning around, Sora realized the former leader of Organization XIII had snuck up on him from behind. All he could manage to say was, "_**Xemnas**_!"

Not allowing himself to miss a beat, Xehanort's Nobody, Xemnas continued what he had been saying. "Rub a few memories together and you'll get a spark of emotion — a _feeling_."

"I _**know**_ that!" Sora snapped at the villain. "So what're you trying to do? Teach me stuff I've _already_ learned?!"

Xemnas continued to ignore the brown-haired Keyblade wielder. "But in a digital world, memory does not work that way. Nothing is ever felt. You could hole a thousand — a _million_ times the information, but there is still _no_ heart with which to analyze it."

Sora's facial expression had transformed into a glaring snarl. "That's not true!" he contested. "The Tron I remember, he _had_ something! That _**proves**_ programs _do_ have hearts!"

Not even close to showing amusement, Xemnas decided to proceed on with his story. "Once," he started. "My Master, Ansem, found a copy of an old system drifting about. He made a copy of its Master Control Program and used it to serve his own ends. That copy was updated and customized before given the name, '_Hollow Bastion OS_'. This world is the _**original**__ data_ of that system, having been stored within a back-up file someplace else."

Sora was shocked into total mystification. If what Xemnas had just told him was accurate information, then the world he was currently exploring happened to be the original version of the world, Space Paranoids. Yet, if that was correct, then where did that put his friend, Tron?

"Here," Xemnas went on. "Data can be copied. Memory can be changed and _easily_ manipulated. Tron is a digital entity, so why should _**he**_ be any different? He obeys the rules of this world."

Now turning to face the confused and nervous form of Sora, Xemnas asked, "Sora, what about you?"

"_Me_?!" Sora returned with discomfort in his tone of voice.

"Your heart," Xemnas answered. "Your memories. Your data. Your dreams. The countless bits and bytes having made up your life so far. Are you certain they are not just 'copies' of someone else's?"

"Yes!" Sora retaliated. "My heart and memories belong to _**me**_!"

"You had better check," came the reply from Xemnas. "Make sure the contents match what's been written on the label. After all, you have been chosen."

Silence followed uneasily for a couple of minutes as Xemnas strode into a dark portal and left. Now puzzled beyond understanding, Sora thought aloud, "Chosen… for _what_?"

"You still think this is the '_Realm of Dreams_'?" The strange youth in the back-hooded coat inquired. Sora jumped in surprise. He had completely forgotten the figure was still there.

"Yeah," Sora confessed. "But… I thought it was called the '_Realm of __**Sleep**_.'"

The young man smirked a grin. "There you are mistaken. Data does not dream. It _cannot_ dream. This world is _**real**_ — _not_ one of the so-called 'Sleeping Worlds'. You have no idea where you are, nor that you have already wandered off the path you planned to take. Illusions have overtaken you _and_ your 'friends'."

Sora was feeling an overload of shock, perplexity, and discouragement. Now the sensation of anger had joined along. "What do you _**mean**_?!" he snapped out.

Rather than give any form of response, the strange youth in the black-hooded coat disappeared into another dark portal — just like Xemnas had. Still disappointed, Sora had just set his mind onto one goal — finding Tron and proving Xemnas's claim as a complete fallacy.

* * *

It hadn't taken more than fifteen minutes to reach the elevator leading up to the Throneship. The moment they had gotten inside, Riku and Violet followed Sam Flynn directly through the airlock-resembling door and into a large, square-shaped room with a total of four control stations.

The instant they had entered, a series of bulletproof glass domes emerged to protect each of the controllers. A voice through the intercom demanded, "State your handles, programs!"

Riku had already heard enough of this nonsense. "We're _**not**_ programs! I'm Riku! She's Violet! We're here to help our _friend_ — Sam Flynn — recover his father's disk!"

A few moments later, a large group of at least twenty or thirty members of CLU's Black Guard descended into the room from overhead. In the blink of an eye, Riku had summoned his Keyblade as Sam pulled out his disk-shaped weapon. Violet marched forwards a few feet and shouted, "The time has come, Holly!"

To the complete surprise and astonishment of the Angel of Dreams, nothing had happened. Her attempt to summon a Spirit had mysteriously failed. Even so, Riku stepped in front of her with a call of, "Glad I get to protect an angel!"

Though the silver-haired youth hadn't taken notice, Violet had secretly blushed.

* * *

The shouting and cheering was growing louder and louder. Sora knew this meant he was getting closer and closer to where CLU was. His only hope to track down Tron was to first locate CLU. Perhaps he could persuade the corrupt program to restore Tron and release Quorra. Even so, the brown-haired Keyblader could still try to accomplish this goal of his.

Out of the blue, Sora came to a halt in his running footsteps. Without realizing it, he had found himself on a stage-like platform with several soldiers surrounding him. With a hint of humility, Sora smiled. "Uh… hi?"

"Greetings Sora," a taller program nearby proclaimed. The man was wearing a black, skintight suit with yellow-orange circuitry. Still, he was sporting brown hair and seemed to resemble a middle-aged adult. "I've been waiting."

Sora was baffled and bewildered alike. "Who are _**you**_?!"

The program smiled. "I am CLU."

Sora's eyes lit up in realization. "It was _you_!" he declared. "You're the one who turned Tron into Rinzler!"

"Correct," CLU smiled back. "I had to repurpose his code."

Sora was far from amused. "Well, '_un_-repurpose' it!" he demanded.

"Yes," CLU nodded. "Under the right parameters, I might."

"Huh?" Sora asked, puzzled. "What… parameters?"

"You have an item called a 'Keyblade'," CLU explained. "It can open any lock, isn't that right?"

As Rinzler stepped into view from the crowd of surrounding soldiers, CLU finished, "Hand it over, and I'll turn Rinzler back into Tron."

Sora was awestruck and concerned. Summoning the Keyblade into his hands, Sora looked at it with uncertainty. "The… Keyblade?"

As much as he wanted to save his friend, the brown-haired teen knew he couldn't just give up the Keyblade for anything. The weapon had chosen him as its wielder. Clearly CLU had absolutely no clue in regards to how such weaponry worked. The program just desired to possess the weapon as his own.

"I… I _can't_," he finally decided. With a voice full of sudden determination, Sora added, "This is what lights the Darkness! It's a chance to make _everyone_ happy — _**not**_ just me!"

CLU shook his head in disapproval and denial. "The 'chance to make everyone happy'? _**Flawed**_ _reasoning_!" he concluded. "I'll take it by force!"

With a nod in the direction of Rinzler, CLU had given the unspoken order to allow his henchman to zoom over and attack. The soldiers who had been surrounding Sora instantly hurried off in a state of alarm and panic. Taking out a pair of disk-shaped weapons, Rinzler hurled them straight at Sora.

Before the pair of disks could injure him, Sora raised his Keyblade and blocked them. All he could think of saying was, "_**Tron**_?! Why can't I get through to you?"

"_**Fight**_ Sora!"

Sora whirled his head around before spotting Quorra leaning over the railing of a balcony watching him. "_Quorra_!" he exclaimed. "You're okay! I can't believe it!"

"Yes," Quorra admitted. "I think Tron heard you. He was distracted long enough for me to escape. You can do this! You _can_ get through to him! You just have to _**fight**_ him!"

Sora was taken aback. Sure, he wants to save his friend. However, the only way appeared to be if he were to fight Rinzler.

"But Quorra," Sora stammered. "_**How**_ can I—?!"

His voice cut off as Rinzler threw his two disks once more. Though Sora managed to block them, he heard Quorra call out, "You have that key! It will bring Tron to his senses!"

A second later, Rinzler had lunged straight at Sora. Fortunately, the spikey-haired youth had leaped out the way and blocked a charging attack. As he shoved Rinzler back, Sora shouted, "I'll _**try**_!"

While Rinzler managed to regain his balance, Sora stood up straight and tall. He positioned his Keyblade into the usual fighting stance before pausing. A small teardrop flowed down his face. Sora knew he was on the verge of having to battle another one of his friends.

Reopening his eyes, Sora glared at Rinzler with a look of sheer determination. Sora looked straight at his reflection in Rinzler's shiny, black helmet.  
He shouted, "Let's _do _this_, __**Tron**_!"

* * *

**A/N: Now that's what I would call a TRUE CLIFF-HANGAR! Don't you agree? I mean... come on! Sora's about to battle one of his friends in order to save them! Not to mention, Sora even shed a TEARDROP! This should PROVE he does NOT wish to fight Tron, but he has no other option!**

**Also, I'm certain you've noticed how I gave a hint with what Xemnas and the strange youth were trying to tell Sora! IF you're certain you know what they were saying, please post your answers in the REVIEWS for THIS CHAPTER!**

**So, I hope you've enjoyed the storyline of this world. After all, Chapter 19 might very well be the FINAL CHAPTER of THE GRID!**

**Nonetheless, PLEASE DON'T LEAVE WITHOUT REVIEWING! THE FATE OF THIS STORY DEPENDS ON IT!**

**This is SoraLego278 saying, "See Ya Later, Keybladers!"**


	19. Ch19 - The Hearts of Truth

**DISCLAIMER: I OWN NOTHING EXCEPT MY ORIGINAL CHARACTERS!**

**A/N: I'M BACK! AND I'VE BROUGHT THE LAST CHAPTER FOR... _THE GRID_ from _TRON: Legacy_!**

**BEFORE you get started, I'd like to once again point out how VERY FEW REVIEWS I'VE BEEN GETTING! I thought all of you ENJOYED THIS STORY! Well... your lack of REVIEWS says the OPPOSITE of what you MIGHT be trying to say!**

**PLEASE REVIEW! THE FUTURE OF THIS ENTIRE STORY _DOES_ DEPEND ON IT - NO EXCEPTIONS! I NEED AT LEAST _100 OR MORE REVIEWS_ IN ORDER TO DO THE SECOND STORY! IF NOT, HOW WILL I EVER KNOW IF ANY OF YOU WOULD BE READING IT?! SHOW ME WITH REVIEWS!**

**Well... now that I've gotten THAT out of the way...**

**...Here we go with Chapter 19!**

* * *

**CHAPTER 19  
The Hearts of Truth**

_**CRASH!**_ _**SLAM!**_ _**SLASH!**_

Jarvis looked up from the control station he was currently the operator of. Less than ten minutes had gone past since a trio of Users had invaded the rear of CLU's irregularly-shaped Throneship. The vehicle had purposely docked at the summit of the Rectifier's highest column with only a small elevator providing any form of transit between the two. As far as they knew, this would have been the most secure location aboard CLU's uniquely-designed battleship. However, the sounds of violent slashing, clashing, and the frequent deletion of programs constantly echoed up to the front and into his ears.

With a shake of his head, Jarvis instinctively decided to ignore such an occurrence. After such an immense amount of persuasion to CLU, the official had been victorious in obtaining a high-ranking position in the Black Guard. Thanks to the successful retrieval of Flynn's Light Cycle, he had been promoted to the Head of Security for CLU's Throneship. Yet, none of it would have prepared him for the intrusion.

When the unfamiliar group of individuals had unexpectedly entered through the back doorway, Jarvis had used the ship's intercom to request their identifications. Unfortunately for him, the three had revealed themselves as Users trying to seize the disk of Kevin Flynn — the Master Key CLU had been searching for relentlessly for the past twenty or so years. There was no doubt, he would have to protect the disk at any cost.

_**SMASH!**_ _**CLANG!**_

The doorway leading from the middle compartment had just flown open, allowing the trio of Users — Riku, Violet, and Sam Flynn — to march straight into the cockpit and directly where Flynn's disk had been positioned into a specialized device, which would allow the entire vehicle to venture through the Portal without any difficulties. Now face-to-face with his opponents, he realized that perhaps the Users were not as idiotic and gullible as CLU had claimed they were.

Not wishing for any trouble as the three strolled past, Jarvis watched them step past as he silently muttered under his breath. "Long live the _Users_!"

* * *

Sora was in desperate need for air. The duel between the Keyblade wielder and Rinzler had already been underway continuously for several minutes. Unfortunately, Rinzler seemed to be having no issues with fighting for such an extensive length of time. The duel seemed to be endless.

With a sigh of discouragement, Sora gave a hasty shake of his head. The instant he had been informed by Quorra that the only method he would have the ability to restore Rinzler back into the friendly program of Tron, the brown, spikey-haired youth hadn't considered the possibility of having to endure a lengthy battle in order to emerge victorious.

In addition to the growing amount of frustration the sixteen-year-old Keyblader was trying to hold back, he was frequently having to either roll away from where his opponent was hurling the dual disks from a distance or raising his weapon to nullify the occasional charging attack. Hence, it was taking all the energy Sora could muster to keep the reprogramed Tron at bay.

As he took a quick second to wipe away some sweat about to land in his eyes, the Keyblade wielding youth took notice of how Rinzler had seized this moment when the former had let his guard down to lurch forwards and attempt to slash one of his disks clear through the teenager. Less than a second before impact, Sora raised his Keyblade and managed to keep Rinzler from harming him. In turn, the spikey-haired teen had also succeeded in stunning the enemy program with a rapid counterattack. As he was about to proceed with another attack, Sora had a flashback.

* * *

_Immediately after both the MCP and Sark had finished vaporizing into a state of nothingness, Tron leaped forwards happily. "_**We did it!**_" he cheered,_

_Witnessing this awkward behavior for a computer program, Sora smirked, "I guess Tron has a silly side, too."_

_Tron paused to comprehend what Sora had just spoken. "I learned it from you," he admitted without any hesitation. "Of course… I do have my silly limits."_

"_Okay," Sora teased with a smirked smile. "Then I'll tweak your program when I get back to the User World!"_

"_**You**__?!" a startled Tron exclaimed. "Maybe we'd better __**not**__ try that!"_

"_C'mon," Sora pleaded. "__**Singing**__ Tron! _**Dancing**_ Tron!"_

_Tron shook his head in amusement. "Okay… okay, alright! Now, before I crash… "_

_As Sora, Donald Duck, and Goofy all turned to face him, Tron took a brief minute to look over his friends with a smile._

"…_Sora, Donald, Goofy," Tron added. "…And all the Users out there, thank you! You __**really**__ helped me. You made me so much stronger. You taught me what… '__**Friendship**__' is really all about, and I'll _**never**_ forget it!"_

_Tron extended his hand toward Sora. The instant Sora took it, Tron swiftly gave him a caring hug. Uncertainty flowing into his head, Sora started showing the great discomfort he was feeling within. Noticing this, Tron asked, "Isn't this what Users do when they're sorry to say 'Goodbye'?"_

"_Well," Sora blushed. "It's a __**first**__ for me!"_

"_Gawrsh Tron," Goofy explained. "It's like a promise that we'll see each other again real soon!"_

_Tron nodded in agreement before sharing a couple heartwarming embraces with Donald and Goofy. As he stood back up, Tron gave another nod of his head. "I promise," he confirmed._

* * *

Now was his chance. With the flashback having just ended a few seconds ago, Sora recalled his experiences and memories from when he had visited the computer system of _**Space Paranoids**_. He knelt down as he hurriedly gathered all of the memory he had obtained to the tip of his Keyblade. With a grunt of determination, the brown-haired Keyblade wielder lifted his weapon as a data-based button-shaped icon appeared on Rinzler's unconscious body. Although the program was stunned, his body had drifted to floating in midair while Sora's flashback had taken place.

With a gentle leap over to his opponent, Sora reached out his left hand and carefully pressed the button with all his might. The instant the button had been pressed, the moment it vanished as Sora gradually landed back to the floor of the room on his feet. At the same time, Rinzler slowly drifted down from his floating position and came to a smooth and gentle impact onto the floor.

With a sigh of relief, Sora put his Keyblade away before silently strolling over to where Rinzler lay. A number of questions began to pass through his mind. Had he managed to restore Tron's memory from CLU's 'repurposing'? Was Tron going to remember who Sora was? If the attempt had failed, why was that?

Sora was so focused on checking to make sure his friend was okay, he didn't see the furious anger forming upon CLU's facial expression. In a state of rage, the villainous program threw a disk-shaped weapon in the direction of the brown-haired youth.

Before Sora could reach his friend, the latter leaped onto their feet and successfully managed to block CLU's attack from injuring Sora. The program pulled out its two disks and aimed them at CLU. He snarled, "I fight for the _**Users**_!"

Realizing what had just occurred, Sora was speechless. His friend, Tron, had been restored back to his former self. Spotting Sora staring at him in astonishment, Tron called out, "_Go_!"

"Tron," Sora stammered in surprise. "I want to _help_ you!"

Tron shook his head. "I'll keep CLU and his army busy. You must go — _**hurry**_!"

A sensation of concern filled the eyes of the spikey-haired Keyblade wielder. Not ten minutes before, Tron had been trying to eliminate Sora and take possession of the Keyblade for CLU. Now that his memory had been restored, Tron was willing to give up his own life to save Sora and the others from CLU's tyranny.

Despite the tears beginning to form in his eyes, Sora gave a nod in return before sprinting off to find Riku, Violet, and Sam. As he dashed off, CLU prepared to send a group of Black Guards to apprehend the teenage Keyblader.

"_Master Key, __**Disengaged**_!" A computer-sounding voice boomed overhead throughout the ship's intercom system. It continued to repeat the message over and over as Sora seized the opportunity to take off running.

Taking into account of his fleeing enemy, the rebellion of his former henchman, and the sudden removal of Flynn's disk from his Throneship, CLU glared in the direction of Sora. "I'll deal with you _**later**_!" he snarled. "I have to retrieve that _**disk**_!"

* * *

Up inside the cockpit of CLU's Throneship, Sam Flynn had just removed his father's disk from the device it had been inserted into. Taking note of Jarvis's presence in the room, Sam stomped over and grabbed the official by the neck. "I'm looking for a girl," he demanded. "Her name is Quorra. Have _you_ seen her?"

Jarvis shook his head in fear. Seeing this, Riku spoke up, "She _might_ be with CLU."

Violet gasped in realization. "CLU will be here any _**second**_!"

Riku nodded. "Sam," he inquired. "How will we get out of here?"

As he released his grip on Jarvis, Sam nodded with a smile on his face. "I've got an idea!"

* * *

Down below in the hangar of the Rectifier, Kevin Flynn watched in amazement as he spotted both Sora and Quorra dashing for the Light Jet the former had managed to acquire. All it had taken was a minor adjustment in a Black Guard's coding to make them allow access to the vehicle.

When he took into account of how Sam, Violet, and Riku were nowhere in sight, Kevin Flynn asked, "Where's my son?"

For a brief moment, Quorra and Sora looked at one another with worried expressions. The next, a loud shattering of glass could be heard. Whirling their attention upwards, the group spotted a decent-sized hole in the front windshield of CLU's irregularly-shaped Throneship. Soaring in the air just beyond it was a pair of data-resembling parachutes with orange panels. The gadgets themselves strongly looked like a pair of falling satellites.

Squinting to take a closer observation of the descending parachutes, Sora recognized the figures using them as Riku and Sam Flynn. Beside Riku was a shiny, violet-tinted light, which Sora instantly assumed was Violet; the Angel of Dreams had both her hands clutching tightly onto Riku's right arm as the group plunged towards the floor below. In a matter of seconds, the three came to a landing upon the floor nearest the others.

Well… it wasn't exactly "landing". Sam's parachute suddenly collapsed without any warning. As he began to plunge faster, the young man collided with Riku's chute, causing the entire trio to crash-land onto the floor. Nevertheless, the three speedily clambered onto their feet and dashed for the Light Jet with the others.

"Sam," Quorra exclaimed after spectating the incident. "Are you _hurt_?!"

"No," Sam answered with a shake of his head. "I've done that before."

Sora was astounded. "Where'd you learn that move?"

Sam smiled. "_**ENCOM**_ Tower — a couple nights ago."

"_**ENCOM**_ Tower," Sam's Dad marveled. "Huh?"

"Let's go!" Riku spoke up, reminding the whole team they were not out of the woods yet. Acting rapidly, Kevin Flynn climbed into the Light Jet's Co-Pilot seat as Quorra took the Pilot's seat. Sam Flynn took the seat behind the two while Sora and Riku clambered into the space around the young man. Being the last one to board, Violet had to squeeze her wings into the small space as she was barely able to fit in the small area behind where Sam's seat was situated.

The cockpit's windshield snapped itself into place as Quorra started up the aircraft's engines. A light-bluish tinted light began flowing through the vehicle's circuitry as it took off. For a few moments, the Light Jet glided through the hangar before swiftly exiting the Rectifier battleship and proceeding onward towards the not-too-distant Portal.

* * *

The second CLU entered the cockpit of his Throneship, he was already in an irreversible state of fiery rage. Therefore, when he came face-to-face with the empty device he had originally positioned Kevin Flynn's disk into, he was now ready to eliminate the first program he could see.

Spotting Jarvis out of the corner of his eye, CLU marched straight over to his nearest official. He slapped Jarvis's head as roughly as he allowed himself to. The last thing Jarvis said was, "_**Death**_ to—"

Having de-rezzed yet another program, CLU paused for a brief minute to decide what to do next. As he was on the verge of pondering deeply, the image of a distant Light Jet caught his eye. Though he wasn't sure why a vehicle had departed the Rectifier without his permission, CLU had taken into account of how the aircraft was currently heading in the direction of the Portal.

With the assumption it had to be Kevin Flynn and his son, Sam Flynn, CLU grabbed a tube-like gadget from a hidden compartment in the room. Not waiting for his fellow bodyguards to do the same, CLU sprinted forwards and smashed his way through the remains of the cockpit's front windshield. Once outside, he turned on the device in his hands. In a flash of light, CLU was soaring through the air aboard a small-sized Light Jet.

* * *

"Didn't think I'd ever see it this close again," Kevin Flynn awed as Quorra brought the humungous Light Jet down for a smooth landing on a special-designed runway connected to the Portal. As the aircraft came to a halt, Violet noticed how brilliantly the blue glow from the Portal had become brighter than anticipated. The glowing light strongly resembled how the angel had always thought the Light was meant to be.

As the entire group climbed out of the Light Jet, Sora, Riku, Violet, Sam, his Dad, and Quorra all rushed up a short flight of stairs to a thin bridge separating the runway from the Portal itself.

The second the group of six had reached the bridge, they froze in complete bafflement. Standing tall in the middle of the bridge was the unmistakable form of CLU; the program appeared to have been awaiting the group's arrival.

"How did he get here so _fast_?!" Sora exclaimed in surprise. Nowhere along the course to reach the Portal had anyone seen a speck of indication CLU was racing them to the Portal. Last Sora had recalled, CLU was hurrying to his Throneship to reclaim Flynn's disk. Yet, how had he managed to venture so far in such a short amount of time? Any of the possible reasons didn't make any sense for a feasible explanation.

Before anyone could answer or even have the opportunity to react, Sam's dad reached his arms out to prevent anyone else from doing anything. "This is mine!" he declared.

Kevin Flynn seemed relatively calm considering he was now about to confront his own creation. "Had a feeling you'd be here."

"The cycles haven't been kind," CLU joked. "Have they?"

"No," Sam's father teased his clone-like program in return. "You don't look so '_bad_'!"

"I did _**everything**_," CLU stated in a firm voice. "_Everything_ you ever asked!"

Kevin Flynn gave a nod of acknowledgement. "I know you did… "

"I executed the plan!" CLU added with a hint of long-lasting hurt feelings rising from within.

"As _you_ saw it!" Flynn retaliated, indicating the major flaw in his creation's argument.

"You," CLU somberly cried. "You promised… that we would change the world — _**together**_! You _broke_ your promise!"

"I know," Flynn intervened. "I understand that now."

As a large creature spontaneously appeared behind him, CLU added, "I took this system to its _**maximum **__**potential**_! You see? _**This**_ is one of the applications at my disposal!"

Everyone gasped in awe and shock. The creature CLU had somehow summoned strongly resembled a preying-mantis with a circular, disk-shaped base. The creature was a deep shade of yellow with bluish-tinted circuitry and red-green eyes. The claws moved with the constant sound of a machine-like jolt from a robot.

Sam's dad was nearly speechless. "I _don't_ believe it!" he marveled in a manner of being awestruck.

Taking note of how the data-based creature had a significant resemblance to a gigantic Nightmarish Dream Eater, Riku summoned his Keyblade without a moment's hesitation. As he quickly marched forward, the silver-haired youth announced, "You can leave this one to me!"

"Me, too!" Violet agreed as she strode over to where Riku was standing in expectation of taking on the monster of data.

Sora nodded as he dashed over to the other two. "Me, three!"

Unfortunately, Violet had unexpectedly placed her now-outstretched arms to prevent the brown, spikey-haired Keyblade wielder from joining his friends. "Stay back!" the angel declared.

Sora came to a halt just in time to hear Riku clarify, "Leave this to _me_! I can defeat this thing on my own!"

Sora was both shocked and greatly concerned. Having recalled how difficult it had been for him to destroy a hostile program the late MCP had attempted to unleash into the world of _**Hollow Bastion**_ — or _**Radiant Garden**_ as it happened to be called, he was worried that his best friend wouldn't be able to defeat the enemy efficiently. Unless he were to inform Riku about the monster's unseen weakness, the latter would emerge victorious almost instantly. Nonetheless, all Sora could do was simply watch with discomfort as Riku carefully approached the monster.

Taking into account of the taunting posture of the silver-haired Keyblader, CLU snorted in disapproval. "You _also_ have a 'Keyblade' I see," he chided with an evil smirk. "Hand it over or I'll take it by _force_!"

"You've _got_ to be kidding!" Riku struck back with a hateful snarl. "Find your _**own**_!"

With a rapid shaking of his head, CLU gestured the mantis-shaped creature in the direction of the seventeen-year-old teenager. "Take that 'Keyblade', _**Commantis**_!"

Instinctively obeying its orders, the monster — Commantis — whirled up to the Keyblade wielder. The latter had just raised his weapon when the creature sliced its sharp, pointy claws through the teen. Although he was slightly stunned from the unforeseen attack, Riku hastily struck the enemy with his Keyblade in a counterattack. After landing a small handful of successive impacts, the silver-haired Keyblader realized Commantis was starting to slide along the bridge directly towards the Portal. For a few moments, it appeared that the monster was on the verge of proceeding through the still-open column of blue light. With a super-rapid movement involving a sliding along a red-colored rail-line, Riku succeeded in slashing his Keyblade straight through Commantis's disk-shaped base to keep it stalled long enough to finish the enemy off.

For approximately fifteen seconds, everything was going according to his plan of strategy. When that length of time had passed, the silver-haired teenager had realized he was unable to deal any more solid hits onto his opponent. For that matter, Commantis seemed to be in the process of absorbing digital energy from the environment surrounding the Portal. Taking into account of how the light of the Portal itself appeared to be slowly disintegrating as the creature continued to seize its energy, Riku exclaimed, "Why can't this thing play by the rules?!"

"Riku!" Sora's voice snatched the seventeen-year-old Keyblader from his momentary state of mystification and distress. Whirling around to face his best friend, Riku heard Sora's shouting. "You need to _**freeze**_ it!"

Riku was now even more perplexed. "_How_ can I—?"

"Use the _**data**_ you've gathered with your Keyblade," Sora interrupted. "You can '_lock_' the hostile program in place!"

Although he was quite a bit puzzled by what the brown-haired teenager meant, Riku swiftly made up his mind to try the new form of strategy. Pointing his weapon into the direction of the creature, Riku took note of a grid-like substance surrounding the key-shaped blade. Still pondering over what effect this would have on the monster, the silver-haired Keyblade Master-In-Training fixated his entire focus onto the enemy. A bluish-tinted, transparent ball of data formed on the tip of the weapon. A few moments later, a beam of light-bluish-colored data flew straight through the air.

The instant the beam had struck Commantis, the data-program began to shrivel up. It only took a matter of seconds for the hostile creature to slow down its movement, crumple up into a deformed ball of imploded data, and vanish into a brightly-lit flash of de-resolution. Riku was astounded. Sora's tactic had completely vaporized any trace of what had once been Commantis.

Noticing how another of his minions had just been destroyed by a simple-minded User wielding a 'Keyblade', CLU was outraged. Turning to glare directly at Kevin Flynn, the program snapped out, "I created the _**perfect system**_!"

"The thing about perfection is that it's _**unknowable**_," Kevin Flynn argued a few inches from the face of his creation. "It's _impossible_! Yet it's… around us _all_ the time. You wouldn't have known that because _**I**_ didn't when I created _you_!"

With a deep sigh, Flynn looked the program straight in the eye. "I'm _**sorry**_, CLU! I'm _sorry_!"

For what felt like ten minutes (it was more like ten seconds), CLU stared at his creator in shock and surprise. The very sight of this behavior made Sora wonder if CLU was about to accept the apology from Sam's father. Unfortunately, CLU's face speedily transformed back into its snarling format before he violently kicked Flynn in the stomach.

After Kevin Flynn had flown back to where both Quorra and Violet had been watching with Sora, Sam Flynn was filled with an unanticipated fury of fiery rage. The young man charged down the bridge and attempted to shove CLU over the edge as an act of vengeance. Before Kevin's son had the opportunity to do so, the villain grabbed Sam and tossed the young man over his shoulder. Sam rolled to a halt a couple feet from the Portal's column of light. To ensure CLU wouldn't have the chance to cause additional harm to the group, Riku raised his Keyblade to protect Sam on a moment's notice.

Sora watched with Violet as Quorra checked to make sure Kevin Flynn was alright. A second after, the latter spoke. "Go!"

With a nod of agreement, Quorra dashed across the bridge, used a grappling hook-resembling device to swing her way around CLU, and reached Sam within a matter of moments. At the same time, Violet took to the air above and gliding over CLU to join the others at the Portal. Witnessing all this, Sora took the opportunity to dart past where CLU was to his friends. The entire gathering glared at their adversary with looks of refusing to show any form of mercy.

"_**CLU**_," Kevin Flynn hollered out of thin air. "Remember what you came for!"

As each of the words registered in his head, CLU turned around and marched over to where Sam's dad lay. At the same time, the bridge connecting the staircase to the Portal's circular platform split in half with each end closing at a steady pace. Certain this meant the Portal was on the verge of closing up, both Sam and Quorra stood upon the open-air center of the donut-shaped platform directly within the bluish-tinted lighted.

In the meantime, CLU kicked Kevin Flynn in the cheek as a means to reach the disk on the latter's back. Upon yanking the item off, CLU rapidly switched it on. He gasped. What he had expected would be a projection of Flynn's head turned out to be an image of Quorra's. He glanced towards where Sam and Quorra were standing in the column of light.

"_No_!" CLU exclaimed turning back to Sam's father. "_**Why**_?!"

Flynn gave his reply with a strong firmness in his voice. "He's my _**son**_!"

Horrified at the very thought of failing to conquer the outside world, CLU switched off Quorra's disk, raised into the air, and slammed onto the bridge with all his might. Determined to recover the missing disk or venture through the Portal with Sam and the others, CLU sprinted directly for the end of the bridge. He jumped across but missed. Not wishing to fall to an apparent doom, the program grasped the end of the bridge.

"_**Dad**_!" Sam yelled in terror at seeing his own father still at the opposite end of where the Portal was located.

As he stood up, Kevin Flynn turned his head back. Wondering what had gotten his attention, Sora, Riku, and Violet all did the same. To their horror, CLU's Battleship was on the verge of entering the Portal's vicinity. From where he stood, Sora thought he saw a figure attempting to outrun a mob of Black Guards on the main deck of the hangar.

When he realized this figure was actually Tron, the brown, spikey-haired teen proceeded to watch as his friend came to a dead end at the edge of the hangar. Noticing the Black Guards were still in pursuit of him, Tron looked out in the direction of the Portal. When his eyes met Sora's, the two stared at each other for a few seconds. With a wave of his arm, Tron leapt from the hangar straight into the chasm below. The Black Guards who had been chasing him all came to a complete stop inches from the abyss.

All Sora could do was watch with tear-flowing eyes as his friend dove head-first into the darkness-filled sea below. At the same time, the sixteen-year-old youth had another flashback.

* * *

_Noticing how Tron was gradually stepped away from them, Sora asked, "Where're you going?"_

_Rather than answer with words, Tron gave a wave of his hand. Immediately following, he darted over to the open space where the MCP had once been before diving as straight as an arrow into the unknown._

_Sora, Donald, and Goofy were terror-stricken. Not a single one of them would've been prepared to witness one of their friends committing an act of suicide. Yet, by the time they had reached the opening, Tron was already out-of-sight._

_All Sora could think of doing was placing a hand onto his chest. "_**Tron**_… "_

* * *

"_**Tron**_… " Sora echoed as the flashback ended. If what he assumed was accurate, then history had just repeated itself. Tron had dove to his doom in a similar style to when Sora had last seen him in _**Space Paranoids**_. Hence, he concluded he would never see his friend ever again. In a state of grief, Sora remained silent.

Turning back to face his son, Kevin Flynn called, "It's time!"

Sam was terrified beyond understanding. "_**No**_!" he refused.

"Sam," Quorra calmly stated in an attempt to reassure the young man. "It's what he wants!"

Nevertheless, Sam shook his head in disapproval and denial. He shouted out, "I'm _**not**_ leaving you!"

"_Take_ her!" his dad requested.

Both Riku and Violet watched with uncertainty as Quorra removed Flynn's disk from her back and handed it to the sorrow-filled Sam. As the latter accepted it, Kevin Flynn yelled out, "_Yes_!"

Though he was positive this was not what he would have chosen to do, Sam raised his dad's disk above his head with outstretched arms. The column of light grew larger as it prepared to accept the incoming travelers. From the other end of the bridge, Flynn gave a farewell smile of relief. Knowing his son would be safe with Quorra, he softly commented, "Goodbye, kiddo!"

With a reluctant conscience, Sam took one final look at his dad — Kevin Flynn — who he knew he would probably never see again. A second later, he released his grip on Flynn's disk, allowing the trinket to get transported straight up the column of glowing light and complete the pathway home.

At the same instant Sam Flynn and Quorra seemingly disappeared through the bluish-tinted light, CLU had managed to get onto the bridge. Standing up, the villain made a full-force sprint to enter the Portal before it could seal up completely. Spotting this, Riku stepped into the program's path and pointed his weapon threateningly. "Don't even _think_ about it!"

However, instantly before CLU could even reach Riku's position, Kevin Flynn knelt down with such speed a halo-resembling wave flew outwards and seized CLU in his tracks. As the older man stood, the force of the wave grew more powerful.

With a yell of, "_**No**_!", CLU was thrust from his place and straight to Kevin Flynn. The villain rapidly melted away as Kevin Flynn grabbed the remnants of molten data. As the latter extended his arms once more, a sphere of an extreme amount of energy formed from where Flynn had just been standing. The sphere grew with such a quick pace it had consumed the entire Rectifier Battleship in a matter of moments. In roughly two minutes, the sphere vanished in a brilliant flash of white light.

Taking in there new surroundings, Riku and Violet realized that CLU's warship had been completely destroyed and there was no trace of its existence. For that matter, the column of glowing light of the Portal had disappeared.

"The Portal is gone," Riku stated.

Violet nodded. "Whatever just happened," the angel said. "It not only took the battleship, but Sam's Dad, too."

Looking in the direction of where Kevin Flynn had been standing a few minutes before, the silver-haired Keyblade wielder took notice of how the older man had simply vanished with CLU. Recalled how Quorra had said the only way for Flynn to have ended CLU was by re-integration, Riku realized they had just witnessed that exact process in action. It had definitely meant the end of them both.

"It was 're-integration'," he confirmed. "Sam's Dad _chose_ to delete CLU on his own."

Violet gave another nod. "I see… "

It was at that instant, the Angel of Dreams felt Riku's arm on her shoulders. Even though the feeling felt awkward, Violet just shrugged it aside.

"What if… my memories aren't my own?" Sora finally said after being silent for a lengthy portion of time.

Both Riku and Violet looked at him with bewilderment. "Sora," Violet inquired. "What are you _talking_ about?"

"Yeah," Riku agreed. "Your memories are yours alone."

Still, the words of his friends had failed to register in Sora's mind. The reason being a third flashback going through instead.

* * *

_As __Sora, Donald, and Goofy __returned from the data of the computer, __Yuffie __called__, "Welcome __**back**__!"_

_ With a nod, __Sora __asked__, "How's the town?"_

_"__Ay-okay__!"__Yuffie__ replied._

_"Not a single trace of The MCP either__," __Aerith added__. "__Everything is back to normal. __We __made__ it__.__"_

_ Noticing__ Sora, Donald, and Goofy__'s__ depressed__ looks,__Yuffie__ asked, "Hey, why the long face__s__? What happened?"_

_"Tron just__… __disappeared__,__"__Donald __explained._

_Sora __nodded sadly. __"__H__e__promised we'd see him again."_

_At that moment,__ an alarm __began echoing__ from __all around__. __Everyone inside the room jumped and started looking around this way and that. In a state of fear, __Aerith __exclaimed__, "What's __**happening**__?__!__"_

_"Greetings friends__," a__ voice __from the computer said. "__System is up and ready for User input."_

_Sora, Donald, and Goofy __jumped in relief. They all shouted __out,__"_**Tron**_!"_

_"Stay in touch!"__ Tron responded._

_ "Yeah!" Sora agreed._

* * *

With the flashback finally fading out entirely, Sora looked upwards with a facial expression that appeared to be determination. "No," he concluded. "I've got to be like Tron! Maybe we're walking the wrong path… but our _hearts_ will lead us back to the truth."

While still puzzled about what the brown-haired youth meant, Riku and Violet silently agreed to give nods of understanding. It seemed as though they would probably never find out what had sparked such a statement to leave Sora's lips. It didn't matter anyway. They were still on a quest to awaken the Sleeping Worlds trapped in the Realm of Sleep. Until it came to a close, they were under the expectation to proceed onward — no matter what events were to take place.

A familiar glow of bright Light stole their now-undivided attention. Up in the cloudy sky above where the Portal had once existed was a glowing keyhole-shape.

Sora and Riku both turned their eyes to Violet. Noticing the duo were awaiting a response, the angel rushed, "I'm all set whenever _you_ both are."

"Yeah," Riku affirmed. "We're not done yet."

"Same here," Sora added in turn. "Let's keep going!"

Stepping forward, the pair of Keyblade wielding-teenagers pointed their Keyblades into the direction of the keyhole-shape. Like they had anticipated, two beams of Light shone out from the tips of their weapons. The beams merged into one less than a second before they struck the exact center of the keyhole. As the _Sleeping Keyhole_ unlocked, the tunnel of tranquility-filled Light, which the group had previously grown accustomed to, emerged in its place.

Taking each other's hands, Sora, Riku, and Violet all took one enormous leap from the bridge and straight into the tunnel of Light. Thus, **The Grid**'s days as a _Sleeping World_ were officially over.

* * *

Time was passing at such an unbearable, agonizingly slow rate for the group situated in Master Yen Sid's study at the highest room of the _**Mysterious Tower**_. Goofy was consistently either pacing back and forth or staring out the window anxiously.

Sitting on the floor near Yen Sid's desk, Donald Duck was starting to get dizzy after watching the knight go to and fro, to and fro, to and fro…. _Now_ it was beginning to irritate him.

In front of Yen Sid's desk was the patiently-waiting King Mickey Mouse. Even though he had been through a longer list of experiences requiring such patience, the King of Disney Castle was now starting to feel a tad worried.

"Gawrsh," Goofy finally muttered after several minutes of total silence had passed by. "I sure do hope Sora and Riku are _okay_."

"Yeah," Donald affirmed with a quiver in his voice. "They've been gone a _long_ time."

"Do you think they'll ever be able to do it?" Mickey asked Yen Sid upon overhearing Donald and Goofy's discussion.

Yen Sid looked down as he shut his eyes. "We can certainly hope so," he answered calmly. "Though, as you already are well aware Mickey, this is _not_ normally how the Mark of Mastery is found."

Donald and Goofy were astounded when they heard the words leave Yen Sid's mouth. Their eyes were wide and alert and their mouths were agape.

"It's _**not**_?!" Donald exclaimed.

"But… uh," Goofy stammered. "What're they doin' out there in the '_Sleepy Earls_'?"

"The '_**Sleeping Worlds**_'!" Donald corrected.

Goofy nodded in approval. "Yeah, A-Hyuck!"

Yen Sid nodded. "In light of what they must do next," he explained. "This was a _necessity_. We can only _hope_ they will succeed without any harm done."

Donald, Goofy, and Mickey all nodded back. Turning to look back out the window, Goofy thought he saw something unusual. He squinted in an attempt to get a better look. "Hey Donald," he asked, nudging the magician. "Do you see that?"

While annoyed all the more by Goofy's nudge, Donald still took the time to peer out the window. What he saw startled him. "_Waak_!" he exclaimed. "What's _**that**_?!"

Hurrying over to the window, Mickey took the opportunity to spot whatever Goofy had first noticed. To his surprise, a small glimmer of light was getting larger and larger every second. Finally, the light was so huge it became apparent it was about to making a crash-landing at the base of the building.

_**ZOOM!**_ _**SCREECH!**_ _**CRASH!**_

The unidentified flying contraption had plowed its way from the ground (near where the mysterious train Yen Sid could magically send to the not-too-distant world of _**Twilight Town**_) all the way to the side of the tower. A shallow trench had been formed in the collision and it was clear the vehicle that had made it had rammed directly into the tower's lowest floor. A column of smoke billowed from the wreckage of what Mickey assumed had been a spaceship constructed out of Gummi Blocks leaning against the structure.

A few minutes later, the large, wooden door leading into the study slammed open, causing Mickey to instinctively summon his Keyblade and leap into his battle stance. Donald pulled out his wand and Goofy began cowering behind his oversized, iron shield. To their complete amazement, a tall, muscular duck with a giant, orange-colored beak, red hair, and blue eyes stepped into the room. His crimson-red coat, red flight-cap, gray pants, and brown boots were covered with small grains of black soot. The cream-colored scarf wrapped around his neck had a tiny flame flickering on a tiny piece of thread.

"Sorry about the wall," he smirked. "But 'Any crash you can walk away from is a _good_ crash,' I always say!"

Donald slapped his hand to his face in total humiliation. He had instantly recognized the new arrival. This particular pilot had once been his Uncle Scrooge's personal pilot before becoming the now-legendary Darkwing Duck's sidekick. He was mostly known for surviving more crash-landings than any other pilot in history, which was why King Mickey had appointed him as the current head of the _Disney Royal Air Force_.

This was the clumsy pilot; Launchpad McQuack.

"Launchpad," Mickey warmly greeted the pilot. "What brings you all the way out here?"

Launchpad held out a partly-scorched piece of paper. "I was sent to deliver this message to you, Your Majesty."

Taking the paper into his hands, Mickey scanned his eyes all across the writing on it. He gasped in shock and horror. His eyes became a glare.

"What's wrong?" Goofy questioned, puzzled by the King's odd reaction.

"It's Minnie," Mickey responded with his right hand becoming a fist. "Maleficent's _**kidnapped**_ her!"

"What'll we _**do**_?!" Donald shrieked in alarm.

Yen Sid looked at Mickey with an expression of concern. "Mickey," he began. "There is _not_ a moment to lose!"

Mickey nodded. "Launchpad," he ordered. "Take me to the castle — _**ASAP**_!"

"No problem-o!" Launchpad acknowledged. "Back to the castle as _stupid_ as possible!"

"As _**soon**_ as possible!" Donald snapped in irritation.

Spinning to his magician and knight, Mickey spoke. "Donald, Goofy," he instructed. "Stay here in case anything else happens!"

To his startle and shock, Donald and Goofy both shook their heads. "King Mickey," they stated together. "We're going _with_ you!"

Mickey was feeling slightly uneasy. "Welp… you're right, pals. The bunch of us should stick together."

Soon after Mickey, Donald, Goofy, and Launchpad had departed in the Gummi Ship King Mickey had used to transport to the world long ago, Yen Sid was in deep contemplation.

"Maleficent must've sense something amiss in the forces of Darkness," he murmured. "A change of some sort. A change like… "

He gasped in realization of the horrible truth. "…_**Xehanort**_!"

* * *

**A/N: AHA! GOT YOU didn't I? I snuck LAUNCHPAD MCQUACK into this story. He's BACK - RETURNING FROM THE [LATE] _PHANTOM THREAT_ STORY!**

**Even so, I'm sure you noticed how I included a series of Flashbacks involving Sora's adventure in Tron's world from _Kingdom Hearts 2_. That was the best way I could think of showing Sora's friendship with Tron.**

**Despite the fact that... you guessed it - _TRAVERSE TOWN_ is up next, I'll be including the first half of a HINT to this next DISNEY-BASED world in this story!**

**HINT: _"ONCE UPON THE LAST DAY OF A GOLDEN SUMMER... "_**

**It's brief, but stay tuned for the second half of the _CYBERCHASE_ Crossover AND the remainder of the HINT!  
IF YOU'D LIKE, I'd recommend re-reading and/or reviewing the events from the last time Sora and the others were in _TRAVERSE TOWN_. In other words, you MIGHT want to go back over CHAPTERS 2, 3, AND 4 to refresh your memory over what happened before! I WILL be referring to what occurred back then from time to time!**

**Once again, PLEASE DON'T LEAVE WITHOUT REVIEWING! THE FATE OF THIS STORY DEPENDS ON IT!**

**This is SoraLego278 saying, "See Ya Later, Keybladers!"**


	20. Ch20 - Lost In A Familiar Town

**DISCLAIMER: I OWN NOTHING EXCEPT MY ORIGINAL CHARACTERS!**

**A/N: I'M BACK! It's TRUE! Chapter 20 has OFFICIALLY ARRIVED!**

**Yet, BEFORE I let you read, there are a few IMPORTANT Things I wanted to go over.**

**(1.) _CYBERCHASE _is a _PBSKIDSGO!_ TV Show about MATHEMATICS. I chose to include its characters for a Crossover in my Story.**

**(2.) I noticed a mistake on the HINT given during the end of the last Chapter.  
I've fixed it, so it now says, "_ONCE UPON THE LAST DAY OF A GOLDEN SUMMER_... "**

**(3.) IF you haven't gone back over Chapters 2, 3, and 4, then I recommend you go back over and REVIEW the events that occurred in them.**

**(4.) ENJOY CHAPTER 20! JUST... DON'T... FORGET... TO... READ... AND... REVIEW!**

* * *

**CHAPTER 20  
Lost In A Familiar Town**

With his hands folded behind the back of his head, Sora took a few minutes of serene lounging as he dove head-first with his friends. This was the life! No worries or cares; nothing to interfere with his happy-go-lucky, laidback lifestyle. There was only the eternal position of absolute freedom. No chores for his mother to lecture him for not doing. No homework to shove aside until it was due the very next day. No nothing. He just wanted the serene enjoyment of the peacefulness within the Light-filled tunnel to last for eternity.

A shriek of fright seized Sora from his current contemplation. He swept his eyes all around the tunnel of Light. Noticing the terror written on Violet's face, and the determination upon Riku's, the brown-haired Keyblader inquired, "What's going _on_?!"

Riku summoned his Keyblade. "_**That's**_ what!"

Puzzled over what his friend meant, Sora moved his point-of-view upward and froze. Straight down the tunnel before them was a strange-looking shadow. The silhouette greatly resembled the shape of a spaceship with a straightened back and curved front. A bowl-shaped extrusion was positioned below the front. For a moment, it appeared that the front of the shape was somewhat glowing. Yet before anyone could speak in regards to it, the shadow simply vanished out of sight.

As the three gave sighs of relief, Sora posed the question. "What was that?"

Riku shrugged his shoulders. "Who knows?"

Violet seemed to be sensing something. "I think," she clarified. "We're about to find out."

No sooner had the angel's words entered the senses of the pair of Keyblade wielding-youths did the tunnel of Light finally come to an end. Out the trio swooped through the opening just ahead of them. The tunnel of Light sealed up behind.

* * *

The instant Sora, Riku, and Violet had set foot onto the ground, they immediately took notice of their surroundings. To the amazement of both Sora and Riku alike, the group had landed onto a wooden sidewalk beside a small pile of crates. A set of two, crookedly-shaped lampposts were located to their left with a narrow stretch of road dividing the sidewalk into two sections beyond the second post. On the other side of the shale-stoned street was a single lamppost illuminating all around.

As the group took a few seconds to sweep their field of visions across the current vicinity, they had the undeniable sensation it all felt extremely familiar. Up above, the star-filled sky revealed it was probably late at night. Yet, it was the humungous building that resembled a resort hotel situated on the opposite side of the street which caused Sora's eyes to light up in surprise and perplexity.

"Are we back in… '_**Traverse Town**_'?!" he exclaimed in recognition of the town's layout. He was almost positive they had returned to the currently still-dozing world they had exited from to begin with.

Swiftly turning their eyes to see what Sora had meant, Riku and Violet realized they had just arrived in the same place where they had departed from the world some time ago. The resort hotel was still as lit up as ever in the nightly air and the adjacent garden was no different. Nevertheless, something did seem off.

Riku paused in thought. As he began recalling over what experiences he had had during their last visit to this particular town, the silver-haired teen attempted to piece the whole journey together. From what he managed to connect the dots with, Riku remembered how he had first arrived in a large, marble plaza with a towering fountain at the exact center. The peak of the fountain had the unmistakable imprint of _Lady and the Tramp_ sharing a dinner of spaghetti and meatballs. While he had begun pondering over what had taken place next, Riku recalled a strange-looking robot and a group of preteens. In addition, he also encountered a few more teenagers, a penguin-like person, and even an angel. He hurriedly shoved the memory of his encounter with Violet aside since she was already accounted for. Still, who were those others?

The purple-colored robotic bird. The preteens who had claimed to have seen Sora. The other three allies and… _wait_! The _**allies**_! That was _**it**_ — the _missing _piece of the puzzle needed to help Riku finish his recollection! Those three allies were friends of a group called the Cybersquad, which consisted of three preteens named Matt, Jackie, and Inez — and… the purple bird-like robot — Digit LeBoid. They were all from another universe by the name of _Cyberspace_, which Digit had referred to as "The Final Frontier". Nevertheless, Riku could not recall what the identity of the villain the Cybersquad were charged with constantly having to stop from causing… what was it?

As he continued to rack his brain with limited success, Riku felt someone tug onto the back of his shirt. As he was yanked backward and behind the stack of crates, he yelled, "_**What**_ _the_—?!"

A hand was clamped over his mouth before he could finish. Fearful the strange figure in the black-hooded coat had unexpectedly transferred the duo of Keybladers and the angel back to the already-awakened world, Riku desperately tried to resist his apparent captors — with no success. It wasn't until after Violet had leaned in close with a finger to her lips that Riku let out a relieved sigh. He hadn't been apprehended by the mysterious guy in black; Sora and Violet had dragged him behind the crates without any prior notice.

After Sora had removed his hands from over Riku's mouth, the latter whispered, "What happened?"

With a finger in front of her lips, Violet gestured with her other hand to the intersection nearest the group. Peering through an opening in between the crates, Riku spotted what had scared Sora and Violet with enough fear to take cover.

Just around the corner of the resort, a golden-yellow vehicle with silver framework was sitting on the left side of the road. The machine lacked any type of overhead roof, though it still contained a shiny, glass windshield. It had four tires with the capability of travelling across a variety of terrains. As the front of the vehicle was facing their way, the group took note of how the front had a pair of purple-colored cones attached directly above its front fender. In the middle of the points was a steel figurehead. It had a long, pointed chin, an uncanny-looking grin, evil-looking eyes, pointy nose, and even a thin slimmer of hair on top.

"What could it be?" Riku questioned.

Sora shrugged with a blank stare. "Who knows?" he admitted. "_I've_ never seen one before."

Violet nodded in agreement. "It also feels _out-of-place_."

Sora gave a nod in return. The very sight of the unknown vehicle parked at the side of the hotel was very atypical. Having explored _**Traverse Town**_ on more than one occasion, Sora was certain such an object wouldn't have been in the town's under-developed state of technological advancement. Therefore, he concluded it had to have been brought from someplace completely different. But… what place could that have been? How would it have gotten there without a single scratch? Furthermore, where was its owner?

Sora was about to suggest taking a closer look when a pair of voices made the three freeze in place. They were positive someone or something was nearby.

"Are you telling me those 'Earth-brats' are _still_ hiding?"

"Yes! I've double-checked this entire town. There's _no_ sign of them."

Mystified and astounded, Sora, Riku, and Violet all stuck their heads out from behind the pile of wooden boxes. The sources for the unfamiliar voices were located not ten feet from where the strange vehicle was situated. A pair of figures were conversing between each other under the light of a well-lit streetlamp from above.

One of the strangers was a tall, slender young man with blackish-purple hair, blue eyes, and slightly-tanned skin. He was wearing a green T-shirt over a light-grey shirt, blue jeans, and red-and-white tennis shoes.

However, the other figure stood out like a sour plum… or lime. His skin was an alien-like, greenish color. His face had a long, pointy chin with oval-shaped eyes and black pupils. On the top of his head was a black wig that seemed a tad small. His outfit consisted of a white-colored shirt, tiny black pants with small feet, a purple-colored cape fastened by a miniature, black bowtie, and a small pocket with three ball-point pens of red, yellow, and blue colored ink. He was a little taller than the other figure with a wider body, though his being was giving the scent of a strong Darkness, which only Riku was able to detect.

As Sora and the others tuned in on the twosome's conversation, they heard the sound of something beeping loudly. The green-skinned figure reached into a hidden pocket and pulled out a hand-sized cellular phone with a bright-yellow color. He pressed a button and held it up to his ear.

"The Hacker here," he answered. As he listened to the voice on the opposite end of the line, the guy — Hacker he had called himself — suddenly gasped in shock. "_**What**_?! What do you _mean_ you're 'lost'?! Listen up, you two '_**Dunce-Buckets**_!' You'd _better_ be at the hideout before Ledge and I _get_ there!"

With one swift movement, Hacker clicked the phone off and put it away in his pocket. All the while, Sora, Riku, and Violet were now even more puzzled. Who had this guy named 'Hacker' been talking to? What had he meant by 'the hideout'? For that matter, who was 'Ledge'?"

"Bad news?" the other figure asked.

Hacker nodded. "I don't understand, Ledge," he groaned in depression. "Why can't Buzz and Delete be like you? You're _smart_, resourceful, and _**not**_ clumsy. I'm actually _**glad**_ I decided to give you a second chance."

The other guy, Ledge, nodded. "Yeah," he agreed. "Those other two could _**never**_ have told the difference between a number and a letter. I'm amazed you've kept them _this_ long."

With a nod in turn, Hacker stood up straight and tall. "Well then, Ledge," he smiled. "Let's return to the hideout. Wicked should be there already."

Ledge nodded as he and Hacker climbed into the front two seats of the vehicle; Hacker was in the driver's seat. As the engine started up, Ledge muttered, "You sure there's _**nothing**_ going on between both you _and_ 'her'?"

Hacker barely blushed silently as he drove the vehicle around the corner to the left, zoomed straight past the crates concealing Sora and his friends, and disappeared into the shadows further down the street ahead.

Now alone in the vicinity, Sora, Riku, and Violet cautiously proceeded out of their hiding place and across the street to the corner. Looking at where the two strangers had been moments prior, the trio found no trace of their presence with the exception of a small cube of yellow substance. Picking up the unidentified object, Violet rapidly felt it get smashed in her hands. Some of it began dripping down to the street below while the remainder was so sticky it was stuck onto her palms.

"_**Yuck!**_" the angel winced with a feeling of sickness. "What _**is**_ this stuff?!"

Taking a closer examination of the gooey element, Riku concluded it seemed strangely similar to what honey was like. However, even that was not solidified enough to have been formed into a cube-shape like what Violet had touched. The other thing he could think of was butter, but he eliminated that option instantly; butter was too runny in comparison to even honey itself.

"Not sure," Riku summarized. "I've never seen anything so _thick_ until now."

As the silver-haired Keyblader continued to ponder over what could've been combined into such a substance, Sora was in a deep contemplation in terms of how the purple-caped figure of Hacker seemed to possess an appearance he had heard about someplace. All he could understand so far was how the very first name he had heard leave the lips of who happened to be Matt and Jackie was that of "_Hacker_". Nonetheless, that still failed to answer his current query. What had Matt told him just before the duo of preteens had introduced themselves to Sora?

"_**Have you seen a **_**tall**_**, **_**green**_** guy with a **_**pointy****chin**_**, **_**purple cape**_**, and **_**black wig**_**?"**_

Sora gave a hushed gasp when he realized what Matt had meant in the detailed description. The preteen had been referring to Hacker — the _same_ guy who had just left in the vehicle a few minutes ago. _That_ was the enemy of the Cybersquad — _**in person!**_

"That was _**him**_!" Sora loudly exclaimed as he pounded his fists together. His eyes were wide with shock the instant he had discovered the hard-to-accept truth.

"That was _who_?"

Sora whirled around to spot the startled and puzzled faces of both Riku and Violet. Now knowing he had spoken out loud, Sora placed his hands behind his head in an attempt to hinder the awkwardness from showing up on his face. Fortunately, his cheeks failed to become any shade of red.

After a few minutes, the brown-haired youth explained his conclusion. "That green guy with the pointed chin and purple cape," he clarified. "He was 'Hacker', the _enemy_ of our friends."

Riku and Violet stared at each other in surprise when it had occurred to them Sora's statement was probably correct. Matt, Jackie, and Digit had all spoken about a guy by the name of Hacker, who was always trying to take over another universe by the name of _Cyberspace_. Recalling how the group of preteens had revealed themselves members of a heroic team they had called "The Cybersquad" who were charged to doing their personal best to bring an end to any and all of Hacker's schemes to create chaos, the teenager and angel knew they could not just allow the villain to get away with whatever evil plan he had assembled this time. They had to help — _**no matter what!**_

After thinking for a few more minutes, Violet spoke up, "If what you said is true, I suppose we should track down the others. Correct?"

"Yeah, of course!" Sora answered without a moment's hesitation.

Riku simply nodded in response. With a nod in return from the angel herself, the team of Sora, Riku, and Violet hurried down the road leading into a quadrant of the town they were yet to explore. They had returned to **Traverse Town**, only to find the world was still asleep.

* * *

After speed-walking down a long street beyond the comforting light of the gigantic resort, the group rapidly took note of how they had seemingly ventured into what felt to be the spookiest district of the town. The buildings were flooded in shadows with the majority of them having been boarded up. All they could identify through the darkness were what had probably once been a neighborhood of small townhouses, a few hotels, and a vacated lot of dead grass. As they proceeded on with extra caution, Sora noticed how most of the vicinity had lampposts that lacked light-bulbs. For that matter, the ones that still did were poorly lit with the capability of illuminating only a very, very small area.

Finally, after traveling down the road for about ten minutes, Sora, Riku, and Violet rounded a corner and gasped. In the middle of the area before their eyes stood a small, square-shaped fountain with three layers. The water flowing from the interesting-looking spring was calmly collecting inside a suitably-laid basin in the shape of a perfect rectangle. As the duo of Keyblade wielders and the Angel of Dreams gradually approached the pool of water, an old, mildew-covered grate caught their attention. The iron vent was sucking up the water at the same rate the fount was spewing it out.

Sora folded his arms over his chest. "Funny," he murmured to no one in particular. "I don't recall ever seeing _this_ part of Traverse Town before."

Violet swept her eyes around the encompassing scenery. "It's no wonder why," she observed. "This section is, well… a little _run-down_."

Riku nodded as he placed his hand to his chin in thought. Last he had checked, the spiky-haired Keyblader had traversed the very streets of this town countless times. As a result, Sora should have developed a perfect sense of direction throughout the entire layout of the world. Yet, the sixteen-year-old teenage Keyblade Master-In-Training lacked any knowledge of the group's current whereabouts. Apparently, everything seemed to be identical to everything else. All he could say was, "I see… "

With a sigh, Sora looked down. "Sorry guys," he apologetically announced. "Looks like we're _lost_."

Riku spun his head to meet Violet's concern-filled eyes. As the silver-haired Keyblade wielder gave a nod, the angel gave one in return. It was official. They had all gotten lost in Traverse Town's maze of streets, squares, wood-built sidewalks, hotels, houses, and so on.

"_Hey_! Are you guys okay?"

The surprisingly-familiar voice hastily whipped the three from their state of depression and growing hopelessness. They whirled around to spot a preteen standing on the opposite side of where the fountain from them. Thanks to his red backpack and green, turtleneck sweater, Sora, Riku, and Violet were astounded with a combination of relief, recognition, and accomplishment.

It was Matt, one of their friends from the Cybersquad.

Running across the pool of water, Sora reached the preteen in a matter of seconds. At the same time, Riku and Violet quickly strolled around the water along the narrow path of brick-laid sidewalk forming a perimeter for the basin.

Having stormed through the pool, Sora had barely noticed how it was less than ten inches deep. However, the depth was insufficient in regards to the actual temperature of the water. It was as _freezing_ as being in a refrigerator. Talk about _**ice-cold**_!

"_Man_!" a startled Matt exclaimed the moment Sora had reached him. "You must be freezing!"

By the time Riku and Violet had completed their own passage around the basin of water, it was quite clear they had chosen the better option. Sora was shivering with his arms hugging across his chest. Water was continuing to drip from his clothes as his knees were beginning to buckle.

Riku shook his head while Violet did her best to stifle the urge to giggle aloud. For the former, this was just like the time Sora had waded through the ocean during the latest tropical storm. Though the brown-haired teen kept resisting Riku's temptation to go into the ocean during the windiest part of the rainstorm, the silver-haired youth had persuaded it would be for just one minute. Certain nothing serious could occur within a mere sixty seconds of surfing on a series of waves, Sora had voluntarily accepted his friend's challenge.

Unfortunately, this was one of the few practical jokes Riku had ended up regretting. The instant Sora was on the waves, he had tried to keep his balance on the surfboard. As the wind unexpectedly grew faster and more violent, the brown, spikey-haired youth had lost all control of his surfboard and got sucked into the rough-moving waves. Fortunately, Sora had survived thanks to a speedy rescue by a group of spectators who rushed onto the scene of the incident immediately after they had witnessed Sora's plunge.

While he was grateful his best friend was still living, Riku had decided to shove the hurtful memories completely from his head. Now, as he was looking straight at his drenched friend, the silver-haired Keyblader asked, "You alright?"

"_**N-n-n-o-o-o-o**_!" Sora chattered with a hint of shock forming in his voice. "_**T-o-o-o**_… _**c-c-o-o-o-o-l-l-d-d-d**_!"

Violet's eyes were full of fear and concern. She was beginning to take faster gasps of air. For a short minute, it appeared to Riku's perspective as though the angel was starting to shiver with complete alarm and uncertainty.

"This is very terrible!" she finally shouted. "Sora's starting to get _**hypothermia**_! He could _freeze to __**death**_!"

Riku was on the verge of answering when he saw Matt kneeling on the sidewalk with one hand rummaging through the contents of his backpack. After searching around for a couple seconds, Matt pulled out a towel that seemed to be woven from fleece. He called out, "Here! Let's try this!"

Riku carefully assisted Matt with placed the dry towel across Sora's shoulders. A few, nerve-racking minutes went by before Sora was beginning to show symptoms of warmth. With a sigh of relief, the brown-haired Keyblade wielder smiled.

"Thanks," he said. "I was _freezing_!"

"No problem!" Matt acknowledged with a smile in return. "Just… stay out of that water from now on. Okay?"

"Yeah!" Sora agreed. His body stopped shivering a moment later as he took a deep breath. "That's better!"

Having managed to relax and stay calm, Violet turned to Matt. With a deep breath, the angel inquired, "Where's the others?"

"They're fine," Matt replied. "We've been in hiding since Hacker showed up."

Sora gave a nod. "Yeah," he spoke up. "We saw him by that hotel where we last saw you."

Matt gasped in amazement. "You _saw_ him?!"

"Briefly," Riku confirmed. "He said he was heading from some… 'hideout' with someone named 'Ledge'."

"He was green," Violet explained further. "He had a purple cape and tiny feet."

"Don't forget the pointed chin!" Sora added.

"Yup!" Matt perked up, slamming his right fist into his left palm. "That's Hacker all right! He must be trying to find us."

"But," Sora crossed his arms. "Who's 'Ledge'?"

Matt frowned with uncertainty. He paused in thought for a few moments. All Sora, Riku, and Violet could do was watch with puzzlement as they waited.

"You'd have to ask Inez," Matt stated finally. "She's the only one who really remembers meeting him."

Sora and Riku nodded in understanding. Violet thought for a second before questioning, "So… where are you all hiding?"

"I'll show you," Matt answered as he turned into the direction of a shadow-covered street leading into the unknown. "C'mon!"

Although they had the faintest feeling Hacker might be watching their every move, Sora, Riku, and Violet all followed their friend into the distance. Even if Hacker was attempting to capture the Cybersquad, he would still have to get past two Keyblade wielders and the Angel of Dreams.

* * *

It wasn't long before the group had reached an open plaza illuminated by a series of torches. Taken account of the numerous banners of a variety of colors, a number of round tents, and even some maypoles with a few stacks of wooden crates, Riku had the sensation he was now in a carnival. He rapidly took note of how Violet appeared to be considering the same conclusion.

As Matt opened a canvas-made flap for one of the nearby tents, Sora, Riku, and Violet all stepped through and into the interior. They were all pleasantly surprised to find a large group applauding for them the instant they had entered.

"Ladies and Gentlemen," Matt proclaimed. "Our friends — Sora, Riku, and Violet — are back!"

Sora shyly gave a wave in response as he recalled the names of everyone else in the room. The large, robotic bird (near the opening of the tent) was Digit. The smaller, bird-like robot next to Digit was Widget. The two preteens sitting side-by-side were Jackie and Inez. Slider was the skateboard standing beside them, while Fluff was the hockey-loving penguin to Slider's left. Standing hunched over on the far side of the room was the tall, thin young man they had rescued from the rooftop of the resort hotel; Jules.

"Welcome back!" Jackie called.

Inez added, "We missed you guys!"

"Yeah," Slider affirmed. "Things haven't been the same without you guys."

"To be expected," Sora admitted as he calmly placed his hands behind his head.

Riku nodded. "Yeah."

"So," Digit spoke up. "Did you find out what Hacker's up to, Mattie?"

"Not yet," Matt confessed with a shake of his head. "But Sora and his friends have agreed to help."

"We did?" Violet asked. Riku gave her a nod.

"Where's Hacker at now?" Jackie inquired.

Sora explained, "He said something about a 'hideout', but that was it."

"Hmm… " Inez pondered aloud. "Sounds like he's got a home base somewhere in this town."

"The only question is… _where_?" Slider indicated.

Sora paused to think about where the villain might be. Though he wasn't certain, something told him it might be someplace in the direction he had watched Hacker go. The only question was… what was beyond that point?

"Maybe," Sora spoke up. "He's beyond the hotel?"

"What hotel?" Inez asked.

"The one we rescued Jules from," Sora explained. "_That's_ where we saw Hacker!"

"Good point," Fluff commented.

Violet paused when she realized something. "Wait," she blurted. "Hacker was complaining about how his henchmen were lost around town. Perhaps we could _follow_ them!"

"Good idea!" Matt approved.

"If you say so," Digit added.

"It's settled!" Sora beamed. "Let's find those henchmen!"

"Who are they?" Riku asked.

"Buzz and Delete," Digit clarified. "They're two robots who always are making a mess of everything."

Sora nodded. "Then let's go!"

In the blink of an eye, the entire Cybersquad filed out of the tent with Sora, Riku, and Violet. Yet, the moment they had set foot outside, they froze.

"Oh _**no**_!" Sora gasped.

"This is _not_ _good_," Inez added. "This is _not good at __**all**_!"

Standing on the opposite side of the square were a pair of greenish-colored robots with black lining around their eyes. One was small and oval-shaped while with other was tall with a long snout and horns that occasionally were buzzing with electricity.

"It's _**Buzz**_ _and_ _**Delete**_!" Digit exclaimed.

* * *

**A/N: BUZZ AND DELETE?! UH-OH! Whenever those two are around, it means HACKER isn't far away!**

**As it is, I'm certain you're probably wondering I made Sora swim through cold water. Well... let's just say, it brings more THRILL to the story!**

**While I'm currently struggling with an unforeseen state of Writer's Block, it has yet to interfere with the progress of THIS STORY!**

**You know the drill; PLEASE DON'T LEAVE WITHOUT REVIEWING! THE FATE OF THIS STORY DEPENDS ON IT!**

**This is SoraLego278 saying, "See Ya Later, Keybladers!"**


	21. Ch21 - Only Time Would Tell…

**DISCLAIMER: I OWN NOTHING EXCEPT MY ORIGINAL CHARACTERS!**

**A/N: HELLO THERE, EVERYONE! I'MMMMMMMMM BAAAAAACCCCCCCKKKKK!**

**I don't have much to say today, except for two things...**

**ONE: SCHOOL IS JUST AROUND THE CORNER, SO I CAN'T PROMISE I'LL BE UPDATING AS OFTEN AS I HAVE BEEN OVER THE SUMMER!**

**TWO: THIS CHAPTER HAPPENS TO OPEN WITH A FLASHBACK!**

**Without further ado, LET'S GET ON WITH THE STORY! DON'T FORGET TO READ - AND REVIEW, TOO - PLEASE!**

* * *

**CHAPTER 21  
Only Time Would Tell…**

"**This**_ time," Hacker scoffed with an evil glimmer in his eyes. "_**Nothing**_ — __**not even**__ Digit, those Earth kids, or __**any**__ of their friends can stop this fail-proof scheme of ours!"_

"_What 'fail-proof scheme' is that?" A voice said from behind. As the sudden realization of how he had been talking aloud hit him, Hacker spun around to find both Buzz and Delete standing in the middle of the hangar with blank faces._

_Hacker gave an evil grin. "Well my simple-minded Dunce-Buckets," he began. "Thanks to the ingenious of yours truly, we're going to… "_

"_Work on __**sharing**__ the credit," Ledge announced as he strode over to Hacker's side. Spotting the startled expressions on everyone else's faces, the young man continued, "Isn't that right, Hacker?"_

"_Of course, Ledge," Hacker smiled without wasting an instant. "After all, you did help me locate that gizmo we need."_

"_**Hey**__!" Delete exclaimed. He pointed straight at Ledge. "What's __**he**__ doing here?!"_

"_Yeah," Buzz nodded with a glare. "And what 'gizmo' are talking about?"_

_Hacker cleared his throat. "The 'site re-arranger'!"_

"_Which will move an entire __Cybersite__ from one place to another," Ledge interrupted, much to Hacker's dumbfounded disbelief. It was quite clear the evil genius hadn't expected his new recruit to elaborate what he was about to._

"_Why Ledge," a nearly-speechless Hacker sputtered. "I'm impressed! That is __**exactly**__ correct!"_

"_Yup!" Ledge nodded in acknowledgement. "Which means you made a very, very wise choice giving me a second chance."_

_Buzz and Delete were completely baffled and perplexed. Last they had recalled, Hacker had vowed to get his revenge on the young man. Now, it felt like how their boss would've been when he had been a business partner with his once-friend, now-enemy, and father of Slider; Coop._

"_Together, we're _**unstoppable**_!" Hacker admitted._

_As both Ledge and Hacker started to laugh evilly, a voice shouted, "Not so fast, Hacker!"_

_Astounded by the unforeseen voice, the four villains whirled around to the open doorway of the hangar. Standing just outside the door was a large group of individuals consisting of the __Cybersquad__ and a number of their allying associates. Matt, Jackie, Inez, Digit, Slider, Jules, and Fluff glared with determination at their enemies._

_Hacker gave an evil grin. "Oh," he sarcastically cried. "It's Motherboard's little helpers. Whatever shall we do?"_

"_Give it up, Hacker!" Digit struck out. "You're acting so much like a _**baby**_!"_

"_That's __**not**__ how an evil genius behaves," Slider added._

"_Yeah," Matt snarled. "You've always been a _**stupid**_** liar**__!"_

"_**Matt**__!" Jackie gasped the second it occurred to her what the preteen had spoken. "Don't talk like that!"_

_Matt remained stubborn. "Well," he countered. "It __**is**__ true!"_

"_Cut it out you two!" Digit blurted._

_Inez gave a nod. "We have to vanquish the new plot Hacker has concocted with Ledge."_

_Everyone else stared at her. "What?" Jules questioned._

"_What she means," Jackie interpreted. "We have to stop Hacker _**before **_**it's too late**__!"_

"_Right!" Matt approved. "Let's go!"_

_The entire Cybersquad was about to charge inside when a voice hollered from somewhere else, "Not so fast, Earthkids!"_

_With their legs planted in place, the __Cybersquad__ turned their attention to a tall witch standing before Hacker's spaceship._

_Waving her wand into the air, the witch proclaimed, "Abracadabra! No more tension! Send these do-gooders to another _**dimension**_!"_

* * *

Sora felt trapped. After he had randomly returned to the _still_-Sleeping World of _**Traverse Town**_ with Riku and Violet, the spiky, brown-haired Keyblade wielder had been unable to predict the three teaming up with the Cybersquad, only to run into their adversary's duo of henchmen. Though Sora himself had waded through a fountain of ice-cold water — and probably came dangerously to the edge of obtaining the fatal disease of Hypothermia as an outcome — he was still beyond speechless at the very sight of being face-to-face with the two robotic-like figures.

His mind began to race in circles. If only there was a way to get past those two? Wait… maybe there was a way! Still… what method would that be?

Noticing how Digit was cowering behind Matt, Buzz gave a laugh full of mockery. "You're still as scared as ever, Digit!"

"So what?" Slider struck back. "Your boss is _**terrified**_ of ghosts, isn't he?"

"Yeah," Delete snorted. "But _who _cares?"

For several extensive moments, both sides consistently glared at each other. Everyone appeared to be at a total standstill. Everyone that is, except for Violet.

"Wait a second!" the angel yelled out loud. Not only did this seize the completely, undivided attention of Sora, Riku, Digit, Widget, Matt, Jackie, Inez, Slider, Fluff, and Jules, but Buzz and Delete were looking over in utter perplexity and shock.

Violet calmly stepped up to the pair of henchmen. After a temporary pause, she spoke. "Buzz, Delete," she serenely referred to them. "I can sense you both have dreams locked away deep inside."

"Well," Buzz stammered. "I always did want to run my own _Donut Shop_… " He paused in thought. "…Or was it a lifetime supply of donuts?"

"I've _always_ wanted a bunny," Delete confessed. "A cute, cuddly bunny that I can love… and hug… and call '_**George**_'!"

Violet gave a small smile, thought it rapidly became a giant, friendly-filled smile. "As the Angel of Dreams, I can give you both your wishes."

"Oh _**boy**_!" Buzz declared with a voice of excitement.

"Grant _mine_ _**first**_!" Delete begged. He ignored the dirty look Buzz was giving him.

After a slight shaking of her head, Violet smiled again. "Very well then," she confirmed. "I'll make your dreams come true — on _**one**_ _condition_!"

Buzz and Delete began to quiver with anxiety as the angel leaned in close to them. "You'll take us to where Hacker's at!"

With a sigh of relief, both of the robotic figures nodded in agreement. The instant Violet had stepped back, she waved her hands in the air. Moments later, a violet-colored wand, sporting a transparent, five-pointed star on its tip, magically appeared in her right hand.

"What's she doing?" Sora whispered into Riku's ear.

Riku gave a shrug of uncertainty. "Don't know," he softly replied. "But I think we'll find out soon enough."

Less than three seconds after the two Keybladers had exchanged their mystification at the atypical behavior of the Angel of Dreams, Violet waved her wand in the direction of Buzz. The instant her hand stopped moving, a case containing chocolate, powdered, plain, jelly, cream, and even ice-cream-filled donuts immediately came to be within Buzz's hands. With the latter's complete focus, Violet explained, "Once every donut in that box has been eaten, an entire new set will take its place. That way, no matter how many you eat at one time, it'll _never_ run out!"

"Gee," Buzz gratefully exclaimed. "Thanks, Miss!"

Turning her attention to Delete, Violet spun her wand at him. Instantly after her hand had stopped still, a small, fluffy bunny with blue-green fur appeared in Delete's hands. Amazed at what had just happened, Delete gave the bunny a loving embrace. "_**George**_!" he happily cried.

"And he's all yours," Violet affirmed.

"_**Thank you so much!**_" Delete cheerfully stated. From what Sora could tell, it almost looked like the tall, robotic creature was shedding tears of joy.

As Buzz was devouring a small handful of jelly donuts from his newly-created box, he gave a deep smile. "_**Yum!**_" he said as he licked his lips. "_These are_ _**delicious!**_"

Violet nodded. "Now," she spoke up. "Don't forget your part of the deal."

"Yeah," Sora called out as he rushed forwards before anyone could stop him. He frowned at the two henchmen. "Where's Hacker hiding?"

Buzz and Delete glanced at one another with a state of discomfort. The next two minutes gradually flew by with such slowness, Sora was starting to wonder if the pair would ever answer. Finally, Buzz and Delete looked up with smiles on their faces.

"Okay," Buzz nodded. "But you'll have to follow us."

"Yeah," Delete approved. "We don't want any of you getting _lost_, now do we?"

Digit strode up in the blink of an eye. "How will we get there?"

The moment he had heard the bird-like robot speak, the second Sora had the strangest sensation Digit's voice sounded like someone he had once known. The parrot-style pitch felt significantly familiar. However, the spiky-haired youth was struggling to connect whose voice he was thinking of. The more he rattled his brain, the more he seemed to be stepped away from the answers he sought. In the end, Sora decided to just give it up and allowed himself to come back to reality.

"We'll take a shortcut through the alley," Buzz explained.

"Yeah," Delete nodded with haste. "You'll be at Hacker's hideout before you know it!"

Although the majority of the Cybersquad all agreed to this plan of action, Widget, Fluff, and Matt rejected. When the others inquired why this was so, Widget complained about how Buzz and Delete weren't very smart and would probably get the whole group lost. Fluff's claim was due to uncertainty, largely thanks to whether or not Hacker would be waiting for them once he realized his henchmen were unaccounted for. For his argument, Matt was in total opposition to trusting Buzz and Delete, since they could more-than-likely be leading the entire group into a trap of Hacker and Ledge's design.

When Riku asked if there was anyone else they would have to worry about, Buzz and Delete mentioned about a vulture by the name of _Scratch_, and another of Hacker's allies; the Wicked Witch.

"Weird," Sora murmured aloud. "I always thought witches belonged only in Fairy Tales… "

"…Until _Maleficent_ came along," Riku finished.

Turning back to face the others, Sora questioned, "Are you guys ready to go?"

"Of course!" Matt and Slider affirmed together.

"Time to _stop_ Hacker," Fluff agreed.

"Yes!" Jules agreed in turn.

"Let's do it!" Jackie confirmed.

"We're in too!" Buzz and Delete clarified.

Inez shouted, "_**Cybersquad**__**, move out!**_"

Within seconds, the whole group of three preteens, two robotic birds and a penguin, a young man with glasses, a skateboarder and a duo of robotic figures (carrying donuts and a bunny), two Keyblade Masters-In-Training, and the Angel of Dreams were dashing out of the Carnival Plaza and into the shadow-infested streets of the town. The time had come for them to bring a crushing defeat to whatever scheme Hacker, Ledge, and this yet-unknown figure named "The Wicked Witch".

* * *

As the Cybersquad followed Buzz and Delete into the Alleyway, Riku began to feel uneasy. The path they were walking along seemed darker and less pleasant-looking compared to the apparent security of the carnival's well-lit sanctuary. Even with the occasional streetlamp giving some light to the otherwise gloomy setting, the silver-haired teenager was keeping his eyes, ears, and nose all open for the first hint of incoming trouble.

This was nothing new for Riku. Back when he had been forced to flee from being taken captive by Organization XIII, he had been wearing a blindfold. Without his eyes to see where he was heading through the lengthy mazes of tunnels, streets, and alleys in the vicinity of _**Twilight Town**_, Riku had to rely mainly upon his sense of smell to ensure he wouldn't slam into any obstacles along the way.

The only individual he knew was capable of processing the same type of sensory input happened to be none other than Mickey's loyal dog, Pluto. If so, how different would everything have been if Pluto and he had combined their talents together to bring down the hopefully-destroyed Organization? Perhaps the entire quest would have been accomplished long before Sora would have awakened and played his role in the mixture.

Soon, everyone found themselves at the edge of a large, water-filled basin. Roughly ten feet away was a decent-sized waterfall situated along the wall surrounding the basin. A miniature island was located directly in the middle of the basin on the reverse side from the waterfall.

"Where are we?" Inez posed the questioned everyone else was thinking. The response was a silent shrugging of shoulders and shaking of heads.

Digit turned to face Buzz and Delete. "Are you sure you two know where we are?"

When both Buzz and Delete shrugged, Jules sighed. "Just what I needed," he whined in depression. "Now we're all lost in a dark, spooky town."

Jackie turned to the young man. "Don't worry," she assured him. "We can still find our way out of here."

"But _where_ is here?" Fluff inquired.

"Don't know," Matt replied. "We were following _**those**_ _two_." He pointed accusingly at Buzz and Delete.

"_Chill_ Matt," Inez broke in. "How do we know they didn't just assume this was the way?"

Taking note of how everyone else seemed puzzled beyond belief, Sora turned his eyesight out towards the pool of water. He sighed; these frequent debates were just going to make their advancement start moving at the rate a snail would be. The slowly-flowing liquid in front of him was the best method the spikey-haired teenager could think of to help clear his mind and remain neutral in the midst of a soon-to-become heated argument among the others.

A flash of _yellow_. In one super-quick movement, the sixteen-year-old Keyblade wielder jolted his head up. The image he had just caught a small glimpse of in the water had disappeared. For a minute, Sora was positive his eyes were beginning to play tricks on him; Riku had often claimed they would sooner or later. Even Kairi was puzzled by whatever Sora was seeing. It would usually happen to be the latter's imagination running amok, and causing the brown-haired youth to assume it was not make-believe.

A flash of _red_. The next second, there was a flash of _blue_, too. If this kept up, Sora would have concluded there was an abandoned _American Flag_ swaying in the wind. Still, he had never seen any such decorations positioned in _**Traverse Town**_ — until he had trailed Slider into the vicinity of the deserted Carnival. Nonetheless, the brown-haired Keyblader hadn't witnessed any such décor when he had explored this very world with Donald and Goofy nearly two years prior to the Mark of Mastery Exam. Unless…

Out of nowhere, a streetlamp clinging to the side of a stone wall above the island burst into life. The bright illumination it unleashed for less than a second forced Sora to turn away, slam his eyelids shut, and throw his now-open hands to shield himself from it. After the sudden flash had faded out of existence, he turned his eyes back towards the island.

To his amazement, a figure was standing directly under the light with their back against the wall. The individual had medium-length, auburn-colored hair that had a strong resemblance to Kairi's. Their physique was so slender, Sora was pondering if he had truly misplaced his final marble of mentality. They had a pair of reddish-tinted hiking boots on their feet, a golden-yellow skirt stretching from their waist down to a few centimeters below their knees, a pink-colored jacket above the skirt, and a hand-sized bag strapped over their upper body. Now the Keyblader was feeling the undeniable sensation of astonishment.

The individual had to be a girl. Why else would they be wearing a yellow skirt and pink jacket?

As the figure turned her eyes in the direction of where Sora was standing frozen in awe, the latter thought he could hear music flowing through the air. A voice rapidly joined along.

"_**Think of all the joy you'll find,"**_

"_**When you leave the world behind,"**_

"_**Like a picture in the sky,"**_

"_**You can fly! You can fly! **_**You can fly!**_**"**_

"…_**There's **_**always**_** a **_**Door to the Light!**_**"**_

"_**Sora!**_ _**Help!**_"

The voice shook Sora with such surprise, he literally leapt into the sky. The instant he landed back onto the ground, he swung his eyes this way and that. It only took a matter of moments for the sixteen-year-old Keyblade wielder to realize the others had practically vanished into thin air. The entire Cybersquad, Buzz and Delete, Riku, and Violet — _all_ gone without a trace! How was that possible? People couldn't just disappear… could they?

Spinning his focus back to where the island was located, Sora froze in shock and perplexity. The mysterious girl was gone. To top it off, the lamp had gone out in turn. Had she actually been nothing more than a figment of his imagination? Or was something else going on?

"Sora! Hurry it up!"

Recognizing this voice now shouting at him, Sora whirled to his right. Just as he had expectedly, Violet was frantically gesturing him to follow. As he stood up, Sora noticed Riku running into view from around the corner. The silver-haired youth was greatly concerned; his eyes were wide and alert as he continued to gasp for breath.

"What happened?" Sora inquired as he speedily approached the other two.

"We were _**ambushed**_!" Violet exclaimed. "A horde of Nightmares just stormed the alley!"

Sora was shocked in disbelief. One moment, the group had been in disagreement over where to go and what to do. Now, it seemed like complete disaster was looming over them. Why did these things always seem to happen at the _worst_ times?

"Then," Sora asked. "Where's everyone else?"

"They ran," Riku explained, having finally caught his breath. "We lost them in a group of stores."

"Well what're we _waiting_ for?!" Sora exclaimed. "Let's find them!"

"Right!" Riku agreed.

"Correct!" Violet approved in turn.

With the others behind him, Sora took off into the distance. If their friends happened to be in trouble — and Sora was certain they were without a hint of doubt — there wasn't a mere second to waste.

Only time would tell…

* * *

After darting through the shadow-filled streets of the alley, Sora, Riku, and Violet came to a screeching halt the second they set foot in the next plaza. As he scanned his field of vision across the vicinity, all Sora could see were a pair of lampposts situated side-by-side in the exact center of the area. The lampposts were producing enough light to illuminate a few buildings with signs from various stores and shops. A balcony was located on the building to their left with a pair of supports holding it in place.

The only things Sora did not detect were any indication of enemies in the current area. From his perspective, the square appeared to be vacant. Not a single trace or mark of a struggle was visible. Had Riku and Violet been pulling a practical joke on him? That didn't make any sense; the situation was too serious for any type of pranks. Yet for some reason, the brown, spikey-haired teen was unable to comprehend what event had occurred in this very place and left no clues or hint of taking place.

"There's nobody here," Sora finally declared.

"Funny," a confused Riku commented. "It's like nothing ever happened. Almost like… "

Violet crossed her arms. "… Like a _dream_?" she proposed.

Riku nodded with a hint of embarrassment. "Yeah, that's… what I meant."

With a smirked smile, Violet stared at him with doubt. "Sure you did," she teased. "Just like when you told Sora what Jiminy meant."

Riku shook his head. How was it the Angel of Dreams always had the capability to remind him of how many similarities he shared with his best friend? While it was true how both of the teenagers had grown up on the same island together, each wielded a Keyblade of their own, and sometimes would possess similar personality traits… they list went on. Either way, they were still distinct in more ways than the silver-haired youth would have had the opportune time to count individually.

Before the seventeen-year-old Keyblade wielder or the angel could speak further, Sora spotted their focus on one another. With a shake of his head, the brown-haired Keyblader smiled his typical grin. His assumptions were correct; Riku and Violet were most-likely being drawn toward each other. The whole storyline felt unusually similar to how Sora himself felt about Kairi… but that would be another story. Right? Maybe not… who would know for sure?

Only time would tell…

Upon waving his arms around wildly, Sora was finally able to seize the required attention from his friends. "Hey," he proclaimed loudly. "Are you two going to stand around here, or are we going to help the Cybersquad?"

Realizing their awkward behavioral pattern, both Riku and Violet stepped two paces from each other. Feeling a sudden wave of humility, Violet's wings drooped without a sound.

Sora shook his head and smiled once again. "Let's go!"

In the blink of an eye, the three rushed down another street and into the shadows. The depth of the shadows grew steadily greater as they went further down the road. In less than ten minutes, they arrived in yet another plaza. To Sora's shock, this particular square was made of purple stones cut in the shape of squares. To their left was a small hotel consisting of three floors.

But that was not all. In the middle of the area was a decent-sized group of creatures with cream-colored horns, green bodies, and yellow paws. The shape of them strongly resembled how Sora had learned (not at school) a rhino looked like.

"It's the _**Nightmares**_!" Violet announced the instant she saw the monsters turn to face the incoming trio, pawing at the stoned plaza beneath them.

As Riku and Sora both summoned their Keyblades, the former snorted in disbelief. "Quantity versus quality… "

"Yeah," Sora nodded. "Makes sense to me."

Riku had to smile. Anything that failed to make sense to Sora would often make sense to anybody else. Talk about ironic!

Acting swiftly, the duo of Keyblade wielders charged forwards and began slashing at the Nightmares. Unable to summon a single Spirit to provide assistance, Violet could only sit back and watch the skirmish unfold before her eyes.

As he swung his weapon straight through another enemy, Riku took note of how the monsters had started fleeing. Realizing the Nightmares were moving in the direction of where a set of stars led up to another street, the silver-haired youth shouted, "Forget _these_ guys! The others are escaping!"

In the blink of an eye, Sora and Violet were following Riku as the latter led the way down the shadow-filled road.

* * *

Not long after proceeding down the street, the two Keybladers and the angel had reached a third plaza. Unlike the previous two squares, this one was enormous and even had a fountain at the exact center. The peak of the fount made Sora think of Lady and the Tramp eating dinner together. Unfortunately, that was not all; there was something else in the current vicinity

"Look!" Sora shouted. "It's _**Hacker**_!"

Sure enough, the villain the group had seen earlier was now directly in front of them. The evil glare in his eyes made it quite obvious he was up to no good.

"That's _**THE**__ HACKER_ to you!" Hacker snarled.

"So what?" Riku countered. "Where's our friends?"

Hacker gave a laugh. "Why, they're all my prisoners!"

At the moment, Sora, Riku, and Violet realized they had been accompanied from behind. Matt, Jackie, Inez, Digit, Widget, Slider, Fluff, and Jules were all gathered together with them.

"Not so fast, Hacker!" Jackie yelled.

"_**What?!**_" Hacker exclaimed in shock. "But… _**how**_?!"

"Maybe you forgot who you're dealing with!" Digit smirked.

"Maybe you underestimated us!" Ledge stated as he strode up to Hacker. He gave an evil grin towards everyone watching.

"_**Ledge!**_" Inez snarled. "We meet again!"

Sora was astonished. "You know him?"

"You _bet_ we do!" Matt approved. "Ledge was the one who tried to '_**Hackerize**_' us!"

Sora crossed his arms. Whatever Matt meant by "Hackerize" didn't sound too good. In fact, it seemed particularly dangerous.

"Well," Sora proclaimed. "Either way, we're _not_ letting you get away with… whatever it is you're trying to get away with!"

Riku slapped his face. He was unable to believe what he had just heard. Sora had just said the same thing twice in the same sentence. Talk about redundant!

Hacker shook his head. "Not yet," he smirked. "I've still got a number of _surprises_ in store!"

At that exact second, a figure came swooping into view upon a flying broom. Sora and Riku were speechless. The figure was a tall, slender woman wearing a dark-purple dress and matching crooked-hat, and black-colored shoes. Her hair was long and red, which seemed strikingly like roses. On her face was a long, pointy nose, which made Sora think of Pinocchio in _**Rascal's Dreamland**_. However, it was still obvious the woman was a witch.

"It's _**Wicked**_!" Digit exclaimed in alarm. The entire Cybersquad gasped in total and utter shock. Even Violet was showing signs of discomfort and fright. Despite being an angel, nothing would have ever prepared her for a confrontation involving an evil sorceress.

As Wicked landed into the plaza, she hopped off her broomstick and set foot onto the ground. With a smile, she said, "Well now, what have we here?"

"Stop whatever it is you're doing!" Sora snapped out loud.

Wicked was taken aback. "You don't know?"

"I'll explain this," Ledge blurted. "You see, I convinced Hacker to create this gadget."

The young man held out the item for all to see. It was a dark-blue and possessed a series of circuits and buttons. From what he could tell, Riku was certain neither he nor Sora would've been able to understand what it was.

"This," Hacker explained, gesturing to the item in Ledge's hands. "Is something I've called the 'site re-arranger'. It can move an entire Cybersite from one place to another in the _blink of __**an eye**_!"

"Hold on," Digit spoke up. "That's no 'site re-arranger.' It's a piece of one of the Grim Wreaker's turbine engines!"

"You mean it's a fake?" Sora asked.

"Yeah," Riku answered. "What else would Digit mean?"

As Sora gave a nod of understanding, Wicked glared at them. "That _**does**_ it! I'll bring you all down!"

Turning to where Hacker stood, Wicked smiled. "Provided I get permission from 'The Big E'."

"Oh Wicked," Hacker teased. "You flatter me! Go right ahead. The floor's all yours."

"Precisely," Wicked acknowledged before raising her magical wand into the air. "_**Abracadabra**__, time for some __**trouble**__! Give me a __**minion**__ on the __**double**__!_"

As if on cue, a gigantic creature appeared in the sky above. Everyone gasped in shock. It significantly resembled a bird-like witch on a broomstick. The bird-witch had a blue beak, red hat and wings, orange body, and green feet. Its broomstick was a green color while the brush at the base was a bluish color.

Violet gasped at the very sight of the creature. "_It's a __**Nightmare!**_"

"_**Spellican**_," Wicked instructed the monster. "_**Get them!**_"

Instantly, the Nightmare charged at Sora and Riku. Reacting swiftly, the two latters summoned their Keyblades. Two questions quickly flowed through their heads. Would they be able to vanquish the enemy? Would they succeed in putting an end to Wicked, Ledge, and Hacker's scheme?

Only time would tell…

* * *

**A/N: ONLY TIME WILL TELL... It's True! That's exactly the way it's going to be until the next Chapter!**

**In case you didn't notice, I did hint at a possible HIDDEN CHARACTER in the middle of this Chapter! I won't say who it is, as it might be revealed sooner or later...**

**Seeing as Chapter 21 ended with the beginning of a BOSS BATTLE, Chapter 22 will more-than-likely start in the midst of the SAME BATTLE!  
Also, Chapter 22 will probably contain the FINAL segment(s) of the _CYBERCHASE_ Crossover in this story. The again, maybe it'll sneak its way back in at another point?  
Like I said in this Chapter multiple times, "ONLY TIME WOULD TELL... "**

**Therefore, I just wanted to say; PLEASE DON'T LEAVE WITHOUT REVIEWING! THE FATE OF THIS STORY DEPENDS ON IT!**

**This is SoraLego278 saying, "See Ya Later, Keybladers!"**


	22. Ch22 - Monstrous Minions

**DISCLAIMER: I OWN NOTHING EXCEPT MY ORIGINAL CHARACTERS!**

**A/N: Hello There! Long Time, No See!**

**Sorry about such an extensive delay - THE LONGEST ONE SO FAR - but I've been very busy since Classes started up for the Fall Semester. On top of that, I had a difficult time deciding where this particular Chapter was going to end at.**

**In the end, I came to a resolution: TRAVERSE TOWN's ENDING WILL BE THE NEXT CHAPTER INSTEAD!**

**Nevertheless, I been wondering why I'M GETTING SO FEW REVIEWS - AGAIN! WHY ISN'T ANYONE BOTHERING TO REVIEW, EVEN IF YOU DON'T HAVE AN ACCOUNT?! JUST CLICK IN THE TEXT BOX AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PAGE! IT'S REALLY THAT SIMPLE!**

**IF you don't want to hear me "raising my voice" over this CONTINUOUS ISSUE anymore, then PLEASE REVIEW - NO EXCUSES! _PLEASE!_**

**Well, without further ado, HERE WE GO - BACK INTO THE BATTLE WITH SORA AND RIKU!**

* * *

**CHAPTER 22  
Monstrous Minions**

He dashed forward, only to come to a sudden stop. In his urge to initiate an immediate attack to the enemy, the Nightmare had taken account of Sora's strategic movement. With lightning-quick reactions, the "_**Spellican**_" summoned a magical shield, allowing the monster to not only protect itself from any harm, but also shove the spikey, brown-haired Keyblade wielder backwards. Slightly stunned from being flung away, Sora was shocked silent. How had the Nightmare managed to create an invisible force-field so rapidly? Was it even possible for such powers to exist? Or was everything the enemy had the ability to do nothing more than a simple dream of the imagination gone out-of-control?

After watching his best friend get countered without any prior warning, Riku glared at the _**Spellican**_ as he raised his Keyblade. Pointing the tip of his weapon straight towards the monster, the silver-haired youth snapped, "_Take_ _**this**_!"

Although he had successfully seized the full attention of the Nightmare, the _**Spellican**_ kept note of the advancing teenager's plan of attack. Once again, the enemy had used its magic to create the same shield and block Riku's ability to strike the former with his Keyblade. The result was a merely shocked seventeen-year-old falling onto the plaza not far from where Sora had made impact.

As the pair of Keybladers stood up from the ground, the expressions upon their faces revealed their total bafflement. Not a single solid hit had been delivered and the Nightmare seemed to have become invincible. However, before they had the opportunity to question why it felt they didn't stand a chance against the creature, the _**Spellican**_ magically rose into the sky above before waving a gigantic wand in a semicircle.

The ground began to shake as the stone of the plaza started lighting up in a similar fashion to how Kevin Flynn's hideout back in _**The Grid**_ had whenever Sam's (now-late) father had stepped upon it. Still, the plaza was starting glow in a certain section just before the two Keyblade wielders' eyesight. Not to mention, the brightness appeared to be situated primarily inside the parameters of a circular outline. As they watched in anticipation of something terrible emerging from the glowing spot, Sora and Riku both poised their Keybladers for a battle or two.

A loud _**SCREECH**_ filled their senses a moment later. To their dismay, a humungous creature swooped out of the circle, which sealed up the instant the monster had flown off. Now both Sora and Riku were equally startled; the monster gave the uncanny resemblance of a winged dinosaur. Its head and beak were both a deep shade of red. The boney, bat-like wings it possessed were in such a shade of yellow they seemed to reflect the color of the Sun. The rest of its body was a bright tint of orange, which looked almost like a flame of fire rather than a piece of fruit. The short-yet-flexible tail of the creature was also dyed in the color of orange, though it was much duller in comparison.

Sora was the first to speak. "It's that Nightmare I fought the _last_ time we were here!"

Riku gasped without making a sound. He knew every word Sora had said was truthful. The creature the _**Spellican**_ had just summoned was identical to the one they had previous encountered during their last visit to _**Traverse Town**_. While he had not yet figured out how the creature had been causing all sorts of difficulties for him, Sora, Violet, and the Cybersquad, the silver-haired teen recalled how this very monster had caused him to lose his grip while scaling up the side of the hotel. Nonetheless, how had that creature gotten to the town in the first place? Unless…

Riku's eyes lit up in realization; he had just remembered one other thing Matt and Jackie had claimed, though he had ignored it as being unimportant — until now.

"_**He said he would take us to our friends if we helped him find someone. When he broke his word, he summoned that dinosaur thing. What a liar!"**_

Of course! That had to be the reason — Riku was certain of it. The only individual who could have be responsible for bringing the Nightmare into the vicinity of _**Traverse Town**_ had to have been the strange guy in the black-hooded coat. He had more-than-likely summoned it to prevent Matt and Jackie from catching him during his escape. But… why? Would good what that have done for him? What was his motive? Why had he been appearing in every Sleeping World, with the exception of _**The Grid**_? Then again, perhaps Sora had caught sight of the stranger aboard CLU's ship?

"_**Riku**_! It's headed your way!" Hastily switching from his contemplation back to reality, Riku instantly realized both Sora and Violet had been shouting at him — at the same time. For a second, he was puzzled as to why this was the case. A moment after, the silver-haired Keyblade wielder spotted the dinosaur-like Nightmare swooping down straight for his current position. Raising his weapon in the blink of an eye, Riku gave a loud shout as he sliced the blade into the monster's body.

Reopening his temporarily-closed eyelids, Riku thought he could hear a loud howling of painful agony. Spinning around to look behind him, the silver-haired youth was astounded. In the midst of his sudden act of self-defense, he had torn a decent-sized gash in the enemy's left wing. On top of that, the Nightmare was starting to shrivel up. With one final _**SCREECH**_, the monstrous creature exploded into a flurry of transparent bubbles. The Nightmare had been vanquished once and for all. As he wiped his forehead, Riku smirked. He had gotten his opportunity to destroy the same enemy he had failed to fight directly before.

"All's well that ends well," he reflected. In his peripheral vision, Riku caught a glimpse of Violet giving him a thumb's up. As far as the silver-haired Keyblader could tell, it appeared as though the amount of radiant comfort the angel was releasing had increased since their first encounter at the three-floored hotel in the purple-colored stone plaza. What had caused such an unlikely event to occur? Was something about to happen?

Immediately noticing its minion had been decimated, the _**Spellican**_ waved its wand in a triangular motion. Another circular-shaped glow came from the plaza, encouraging Sora and Riku to simultaneously position their Keyblades for another challenge.

"Looks like this'll be a long battle," Sora announced.

"Yeah," Riku acknowledged with a slight nod of his head.

As they expected, a second creature came flying clear out of the magical circle on the ground. As their new opponent spun around to face the two Keyblade wielders, Riku realized how the Nightmare was shaped like a hawk with yellow wings. Its red claws, reddish-orange beak, and orange tail confirmed his belief. In less than an instant, the teenager exclaimed, "It's the _**hawk**_ from Tinker Bell's world!"

Now Sora was as speechless as his best friend. When the enemy had first come into view, he had the uncanny sensation it looked strikingly familiar. Sure enough, it was a perfect replica of the Nightmare they had come face-to-face with during their search for the Sleeping Keyhole in _**Pixie Hollow**_. Thinking back to what had taken place, the spikey-haired youth remembered how the monster had destroyed all the supplies arranged for bringing the season of Spring to the Mainland. While Tinker Bell was positive she had discovered a method to resolve the current dilemma, a certain fairy, by the name of Vidia, had unintentionally revealed her authority over the creature. Still, how had the mean fairy gained the ability to control such a powerful minion? Then again…

As he dodged under a speedy swipe from the hawk-shaped monster's claws, Sora recalled how Vidia had claimed there was someone else involved in the plot of Darkness — a stranger dressed in black. He silently gasped, knowing this meant the mysterious guy wearing the black coat of Organization XIII must have somehow made contact with the fairy. Thus, Vidia had attained control over the hawk-like creature. Yet, why had the stranger given such power to someone like a fairy?

Jolting back to the current situation, Sora continued to roll in an effort to evade the frequent attacks from the relentlessly-stalking Nightmare overhead. A glob of sweat flew from his forehead as the brown-haired teenager began to pant more and more. After another two minutes had passed, he started to wheeze with a single thought passing through his mind.

'_Where's _**Riku**_?!'_

A flash of light followed instantly by a sharp _**SQUACK**_ grabbed Sora's complete focus. Staring directly towards the hawk-shaped enemy's current position, the Keyblade wielder took into account the unknown individual now standing upon the now-crippled monster's back. Their silver-colored hair was all Sora needed to make him smile with relief.

Riku had delivered a surprise attack to the Nightmare.

As the seventeen-year-old Keyblade wielder jumped off the hawk-shaped Nightmare, the latter rapidly quivered and quaked before becoming motionless. A brilliant flash of white light shown out as the creature vanished into a barrage of translucent bubbles. Most of the bubbles disappeared as they neared the plaza below, but a few headed straight for where Sora knelt as he finally caught his breath. With his Keyblade, the sixteen-year-old reached out and popped each bubble one-by-one. He took a breath and relaxed; that was the last they would ever see of the Nightmare shaped like a hawk.

"Glad that's over," Sora remarked.

Moments after the words had left his mouth, the _**Spellican**_ Nightmare had just witnessed the demise of another of its underlings. Furious at watching the pair of teens still emerging victorious, the _**Spellican**_ waved its wand in a square-resembling movement. The ground began to glow as both Riku and Sora had taken notice of the Nightmare's raging frustration. Like the previous two, a third creature leapt from the glowing circle on the plaza and turned to face the duo.

Sora gave a deep sigh. "Again?" he groaned.

Even though Riku was aware of his best friend's discouragement, the silver-haired Keyblade wielder was in the process of analyzing their newly-arrived competitor. It seemed to be an oversized lobster with sea-blue claws, six bright red legs, and a yellowish-orange tail containing a stinger. From some odd reason, Riku could not make any connections between the monster and anything he had seen prior. Nevertheless, it seemed to be a combination of more than one being. How was that supposed to happen? From behind, he heard Violet's voice shouting, "It's a '_**Double Nightmare**_'!"

Taking the angel's claim into consideration, Riku took another sweep of the enemy and froze. The Nightmare was a combination between the two creatures he had defeated alongside Sora and Violet back in _**Rascal's Dreamland**_. One of those two had tried to hurt Pinocchio inside the clubroom. The other had attempted to keep Monstro frozen within an enormous chunk of ice. As he glared defiantly at the monster, Riku raised his weapon with the blade pointed straight at the monster.

"What're you doing, Riku?"

Riku turned his eyes over to where the voice had come from. There stood Sora with a blank stare of utter perplexity and wonder in his eyes. It was all Riku had to keep himself from snickering. The last time he had seen Sora behave in this manner was back when they were still on _**Destiny Islands**_, seconds after the latter had finished reading the letter from Mickey out loud. The remainder of that day, throughout the entire night, and into the next morning, Sora had most-likely stayed in the mode of one being full of uncertainty and mystification. However, all it was one word from the silver-haired Keyblader's lips to break Sora's concentration; "Sora?" With this look having returned to his best friend's eyes, Riku calmly explained his purpose. "Let's use the Light."

"Ah!" Sora affirmed, now comprehending what Riku was saying to him. Instinctively raising his own Keyblade, Sora also pointed the tip of the blade towards the awaiting Nightmare. A ball of Light formed at the tips of each of their weapons before unleashing beams of said Light. The beams struck the lobster-resembling Nightmare, causing the latter to disintegrate into a mound of clear bubbles. In a few super-swift actions, they two Keyblade wielders removed each and every sphere until there was no trace of their opponent. They had defeated the Nightmare before the latter even had the opportunity to launch a single attack.

* * *

From where she had been spectating the entire turn-of-events, Wicked had become so enraged at three nonstop victories from her enemies, she jumped onto her broom and flew into view of the _**Spellican**_ Nightmare.

With a wave of her wand, the witch chanted, "_Abracadabra, you won't be __**defeated**_!_ You'll have more power, not be __**deleted**_!"

A strange glow illuminated the _**Spellican**_ for a couple seconds. When Wicked ordered her underling to strike down Sora, Riku, and Violet, the _**Spellican**_ began to quiver with anxiety at directly challenging such powerful opponents. Instead, it waved its wand in a full circle, thus causing a strange keyhole-type shape to appear in the sky. In one swift movement, the _**Spellican**_ soared past Wicked before swooping into the keyhole.

"_**No**_!" Wicked hollered after watching her minion's betrayal.

* * *

Down below, Sora and Riku quickly found themselves swarmed with the gratitude of every member of the Cybersquad. Riku shook his head and smiled. This was no exception to how he assumed anyone would be congratulating Sora for saving their world from the Heartless, Nobodies, and Organization XIII.

"_Awesome_!" Inez cheered.

"You did it!" Fluff added.

Matt nodded. "Great job!"

"High-five!" Slider proclaimed as he and Sora clapped hands together.

"Way to go!" Jackie agreed, shaking Riku's hand.

"Nice going," Jules smiled. "I'd _never_ have been able to do anything like that!"

"_**Beautiful**_," Digit commended with a sincere smile visible upon his beak. "You sure showed _those_ monsters a thing or two!"

"Uh… thanks?" Sora stammered. His cheeks nearly blushed from a growing nervousness. All this made Riku do was simple shake his head and smile.

"_Alright_! That's enough!" Violet spoke up. Taken account of how easily she had gotten everyone's undivided attention, the angel gestured toward the tall fountain in the middle of the vicinity. "We haven't stopped Hacker yet."

Scanning the plaza where the angel was indicating, Riku spotted the undeniable forms of Hacker, Ledge, Buzz, and Delete. The odd-looking vehicle he had seen outside the resort hotel was now parked directly behind the villains with a vulture perched on the front hood. As Riku watched with the others, Wicked hastily landed her broom beside the other evildoers.

"Right," the silver-haired youth acknowledged as he ran to the middle of the plaza with his Keyblade in hand. In turn, Sora re-summoned his own Keyblade and followed. The last one was Violet, who flew off in the same direction. The Cybersquad stood their ground in case anything were to go wrong.

* * *

As the trio approached the villains, Hacker gave an evil laugh. "So," he quipped. "I see you've managed to emerge victoriously — so far!"

"Yeah," Sora snorted as he glared at the main enemy of his friends from _Cyberspace_. "And it's about to _**end**_!"

"Right _**here**_," Violet stated in a firmer voice than before.

"Right _**now**_!" Riku finished with a disapproving scowl.

Without a single hesitation, Hacker shook his head with such a grin, it reminded Sora of when he, Donald, and Goofy had first come into contact with Captain Barbossa in _**Port Royal**_. With an evil laugh, Hacker scoffed, "You really think you can defeat _me_ — _**The **__**Hacker**_ — so easily? Not a chance!"

Hacker turned his attention to Ledge; the young man did the same. "Ledge?" the former said.

Ledge saluted. "You can count on me!"

Whirling their focus back to Sora and his friends, Ledge took off in a speedy run. Riku was astounded; where had the villain ventured off to? One moment he was standing in front of them. The next, he had vanished in a blur of fast-paced movement. The silver-haired Keyblade wielder took a glance at the others. Violet appeared to be puzzled while Sora was in a state of both shock and total mystification.

By the time Riku had decided to sweep his eye view across the plaza, Violet had already spotted their opponent. Turning around in their current positions, Sora and Riku realized Ledge had dashed straight for an enormous manhole cover near the fountain. With a burst of speed, the two Keybladers reached the young man in a matter of seconds. They were quickly joined by Violet.

"Give it up," Sora snarled at the villain as he stepped to the edge of the rusted cover. "You're all going _down_!"

As though he was waiting patiently for their arrival, Ledge was simply standing as straight as he could with both hands in his pockets. His eyes were wandering around every few moments like he was taking in the sights of the surrounding vicinity. Once he had taken note of how close the trio was to him, Ledge knelt down and knocked his fist onto the manhole's huge lid. "It's time!"

As the young man hurriedly sped a distance of several feet from the manhole, the marble plaza began to shake ever so slightly. It began to increase as Sora, Riku, and Violet all swirled their heads around rapidly. Whatever was about to happen was probably not going to be anything positive.

Suddenly, the quaking of the ground ceased as the giant cover over the manhole started to rise. A loud _**GROWL**_ echoed from within as a gigantic individual leaped out and glared at the pair of teenagers and angel. Violet muffled a scream as both Sora and Riku were speechless. The figure had dark-blue fur, plaque-stained fangs, and red hair. They were wearing a light-blue shirt with ripped sleeves, dark-blue pants up to their chest, and dirty white gloves. Still, what stuck out the most was how several parts of their body and clothing had been stitched together, one of their legs had been replaced with a peg-leg, and metal bolts were sticking out of their neck.

"Who are _**you**_?!" an exasperated Sora spoke in such a hushed voice, only Riku and Violet could hear the words.

With a look of determination and certainty, Ledge announced, "Meet _**Julius**_, the monster I found living beneath the streets of this town!"

"_**What**_?!" Riku exclaimed in shock. From his perspective, the figure seemed to resemble a cross between both Maleficent's lackey [Pete] and the fictional monster from the legendary story of _Frankenstein_. However, the real identity of the monster was… Julius? What kind of a name was that for a monster? Even 'Frankenstein' seemed better than 'Julius'. Then again, maybe Julius was the one the story had been based upon?

Before Riku could ponder any further, he noticed Sora charging straight for the humungous monster with his Keyblade ready to strike. Alarmed and fearful for what his best friend was doing, the silver-haired youth shouted, "_**Wait**_!"

When the brown-haired Keyblade wielder failed to have received the message, Riku raised his Keyblade and charged in after him. Having watching both of the Keybladers going in to fight, Violet took to the air as she glided swiftly overhead to survey the battle.

* * *

The instant Julius spotted Sora's plan of attack, the former stomped forwards with his fists aimed straight for the teenager. In the nick of time, Sora evaded the enemy's punches by rolling underneath them. Pointing his right index finger at Sora like a lawyer accusing the defendant's lawyer of false evidence, Julius began swinging his oversized fists as he darted over to where the brown-haired adolescence was standing. Swerving out of the monster's path, Sora began sprinting in the opposite direction. Quickly realizing he had been duped, Julius came to a screeching halt; the _**SCREECH**_ of his sudden stop gave Riku the feeling of watching a cartoon back on the islands.

As Sora paused to catch his breath, Julius turned to face him before leaping into the air. Before Riku's astonished eyes, the monster leaned its titanic-sized body in the direction of the spikey-haired Keyblade wielder. Unable to move fast enough, Sora immediately found himself tossed into the air, slammed onto the ground, and greatly stunned as Julius made impact with the plaza.

With his best friend apparently out for the count, Riku dashed to where the enemy was clambering back onto his foot and peg-leg. Refusing to let a single moment get wasted, the silver-haired teen jumped into the air before slicing his Keyblade through the monster's left arm. With Julius momentarily stunned from this surprise assault, Riku took the opportunity to attempt to get out of harm's way. Before he could get far enough, Julius had jumped from the plaza and onto a nearby building beside the plaza. With a great trust of energy (and a loud _**ROAR**_), Julius slammed his entire figure flat onto the ground near Riku. The shockwave from such a landing was plenty enough to send Riku flying into the flowing water of the fountain in the area. Drenched and mildly stunned, Riku collapsed on the edge of the pool of water.

Having witnessed the pair of teenage Keyblade Masters-In-Training get shoved aside by Julius's powerful, swinging arms, Violet decided it was time for her to step in and finish the job. As she descended, her wings allowed her to zoom straight past the monster. Distracted by the swift-moving angel, Julius charged at her, thus giving Matt, Jackie, Inez, and Digit the chance to help both Sora and Riku out of harm's way. Although Violet continued to swoop this way and that to avoid the enemy's attacks, Julius only grew more and more frustrated.

* * *

As he regained consciousness, Sora leapt onto his feet and whirled his head around rapidly. When Riku came to, he did the same. To their surprise, the first thing they both immediately caught sight of was Violet flittering around Julius. However, the monster's fury was increasing at an alarming rate.

"That isn't good," Riku stated.

"C'mon," Sora announced with his Keyblade tightly in his grip. "We've got to help her!"

Riku gave a nod in reply. "Yeah!"

The two were about to rejoin the fight once again when the filthy gloves of Julius's hands began to glow with sparks of electricity. Realizing the monster was unleashing what resembled magical lightning, Sora gasped, "_Violet_!"

Instantly after the words had left Sora's lips, Riku added, "_Look_ _**out**_!"

* * *

Upon overhearing the shouts from Sora and Riku, Violet swerved her head in their direction. The Keybladers were gesturing toward where Julius had paused a few seconds before. Wondering why the pair's facial expressions were filled almost entirely with concern, the angel swung her field of vision back to her target.

_**ZAP!**_

Violet's wings began to quiver as the sudden jolt of high voltage surged throughout her physic. She hadn't foreseen the enemy possessing the capability to control such a powerful amount of electricity. Before she could count to three, her wings had stopped moving and caused her to come to a crash-landing on the square below. As the sky began to darken, Violet thought she could hear Riku's voice frantically shouting her name over and over again.

* * *

"**_Violet_**! _**Violet**_!"

Riku was more than astonished. One of Julius's randomly-aimed bolts of lightning had struck Violet's wings. All he could do was watch with terror-filled eyes as the angel fell from the air and collided with the marble-constructed square. It did not take long for the silver-haired youth to realize she was unaware of her surroundings.

"Oh no!" Sora's voice gasped from Riku's right.

Determined to rescue the fallen Angel of Dreams, Riku rushed into the plaza. From behind, he could barely make out the shouts and pleas from his best friend calling him back.

As he approached the unconscious form of Violet, Riku swiftly spun his eyes around for any sign of Julius. For some unknown reason, the monster appeared to have completely vanished without any trace.

_**ROAR!**_ The fury-flooded shout from above stole Riku's attention. Julius had leaped onto another building beside the square, jumped off, and was now heading directly for the Keyblade wielder and angel. Quickly scooping up Violet into his arms, the silver-haired teenager darted for where Sora and the Cybersquad were watching in horror.

As Riku reached Sora's position, Julius's enormous body slammed into the plaza, creating a gigantic shockwave. For a brief moment, the pair froze, awaiting the instant they would be thrown into mid-air. When that moment never showed up, they whirled their eyes back to where Julius was now crawling back into the manhole cover like a terrified little toddler.

Sora was feeling perplexed. With his left hand over his chest, he could sense his heart beating faster than anticipated. "What's going on?" he questioned.

As he gently placed Violet onto the wooden sidewalk, Riku wiped some sweat off his forehead. With a stern face, he firmly stated, "Next time, _behave_!"

Not a full minute had passed by when the ground began to move in the form of a minor earthquake. Although both Sora and Riku managed to keep their footing, the movement was too much for the members of the Cybersquad standing behind them. One by one, the four preteens, two robotic birds, young man, and penguin hockey player all stumbled and fell to the wooden sidewalk they were gathered on.

"_What's_ _**happening**_?!" Digit exclaimed with a hint of worry on his face.

As the ground began rocking more violently, Violet regained consciousness as she took into account of everyone's reactions. She barely managed to keep her footing as she stood up and turned to face Sora and Riku. "Why's the ground moving?" she inquired.

Before any answer could be given, the wobbling of the vicinity had ceased. Wondering what had been the cause for such an abnormal phenomenon, Sora whirled his head around. He paused before pointing up towards the sky. "Look!"

Spinning their own point-of-views to spot what Sora had, Riku and Violet both gasped. Towering over the rooftops of the town was a humungous giant with a pink nose, red hair, blue eyes, large hands, and both a small head and feet. He was wearing a green shirt, purple-colored vest with a golden lining, bluish pants, black belt, blue socks, and brown sandals.

As the gigantic figure peered down at everyone from above, he mumbled, "Hey! Have any of you seen… such a thing as a teeny-weeny… _little_ mouse?"

Now Violet, Riku, and Sora were all well beyond mystified.

* * *

**A/N: IT'S A PLAN! NO, IT'S A PLANE! WAIT, IT'S SILENT-E-MAN! Then again, WHO IS THAT GIANT ASKING ABOUT SOME "MOUSE"?  
IF you think you know his identity, please post your answers in the REVIEWS FOR THIS CHAPTER! THERE! NOW YOU HAVE A REASON TO REVIEW!**

**In case you didn't know, JULIUS is from the Mickey Mouse Cartoon; _RUNAWAY BRAIN (1995)_.**

**I REALLY hoped you enjoyed Chapter 22! After all, it MIGHT be a little while until I'm able to complete Chapter 23, too.**

**Meanwhile, I'd SIGNIFICANTLY APPRECIATE IT IF you do this - PLEASE DON'T LEAVE WITHOUT REVIEWING! THE FATE OF THIS STORY DEPENDS ON IT!**

******Also, keep in mind of the HINT I gave at the end of Chapter 19; _"ONCE UPON THE LAST DAY OF A GOLDEN SUMMER... "_  
This HINT is only HALF-FINISHED! The REMAINDER of it will be revealed at the END of the NEXT CHAPTER!**

**Until then - This is SoraLego278 saying, "See Ya Later, Keybladers!"**


	23. Ch23 - The Supernatural Surprises

**DISCLAIMER: I OWN NOTHING EXCEPT MY ORIGINAL CHARACTERS!**

**A/N: HHHHHHHEEEEEEERRRRRRREEEEEEE I AM! ANOTHER DAY, ANOTHER DOLLAR!**

**BY THE WAY, THERE'S LESS THAN TWO DAYS BEFORE _KINGDOM HEARTS -1.5 HD ReMIX-_ COMES TO NORTH AMERICA!  
****I'M SO EXCITED!**

**Either way, I wanted to acknowledge my gratitude to those of you who have been trying very hard to keep REVIEWING up to this point! I thought you should know, I've projected this story to have around 50 CHAPTERS!  
So, I'll need at least 2-3 REVIEWS PER CHAPTER IF THE GOAL OF 100 REVIEWS IS TO BE MET BEFORE THIS STORY ENDS!**

**Also, keep in mind the first-half of the HINT for the Disney-based world coming up next!  
Here it is, just as a reminder; _"ONCE UPON THE LAST DAY OF A GOLDEN SUMMER... "_**

**Lastly, someone already figured out who the GIANT in the last Chapter was! IF you want to find out, too... YOU'LL HAVE TO READ ON!  
STARTING... NOW!**

* * *

**CHAPTER 23  
The Supernatural Surprises**

Sora was so perplexed, he was questioning whether or not he was even puzzled in the first place. Not five minutes ago, he had been engaged in a dangerous battle against an enormous monster by the name of Julius. After somehow scaring the villain back into the manhole he had emerged from, the entire marble plaza around them had begun to vibrate. Less than a second after it stopped, the brown, spikey-haired Keyblade wielder took into account of the gigantic figure now towering over the vicinity. The size of the giant was plenty to cause both of Hacker's henchmen to duck behind the large fountain at the center of the area.

For a few moments, Sora had the atypical sensation of dread flowing throughout his body. Based on his own experiences, the sixteen-year-old youth had come to the conclusion that all individuals over ten feet tall were on the side of the Darkness. Despite the awkward thought of possible stereotyping, the teenage Keyblader stuck to his opinion.

However, the giant hadn't bothered to pick any sort of quarrel with Sora or his companions — Riku, Violet, and even the Cybersquad. Even as the figure peered down from above, all he did was inquire if any of them had seen a "teensy-weeny… _little_ mouse." From what he understood, the only person who fit such a description would've been King Mickey. How many other mice had the ability to talk, wear clothing, laugh at random jokes, and… wield a Keyblade? He couldn't come up with a single solid answer to his rhetorical query.

As he uncrossed his arms upon completing his lengthy contemplation, Sora leaned his neck back to meet the giant's eyes. With a calm tone in his voice, the brown-haired Keyblade wielder replied to the giant's question. "Not sure," he spoke up. "Why are you looking for a 'mouse'?"

"He took magical harp from Big Willie," the giant explained, placing his right hand onto his chest. "That's _me_! I've got to get harp back or Big Willie won't be sleeping tonight."

With this additional information, Sora tried to piece the scattered details together. If the giant — _Big_ Willie he had claimed — was being honest, then he was searching for some unnamed 'mouse' who happened to be a criminal. Apparently, this 'mouse' had swiped Willie's magical harp to prevent the giant from… falling back asleep? Why would a giant need a magical harp to get some sleep? Then again, Willie had said the harp was '_magical_'. Therefore, it probably possessed some mystical power with the capability to help Willie catch some "ZZZs".

"Nope," Riku admitted, shaking Sora off from the latter's deep pondering. "Sorry."

"_**Darn**_!" Willie frowned in disappointment.

"Perhaps he's somewhere else around here?" Violet suggested with a hint of hopefulness.

Willie paused in consideration for a couple minutes. When he looked back at the trio, a huge smile had formed upon his face. "Good idea!" he agreed. "I search rest of town for teensy-weeny mouse and harp!"

With a series of ground-moving footsteps, Willie headed off into the distance to continue his search for the thieving mouse and his missing 'magical' harp. Once the giant had disappeared from view, Sora placed his right hand over the left side of his chest. Following a deep breath, Sora muttered to no one in particular, "What was _that_ about?"

"Who knows?" Riku shrugged in response to his friend's question. All this gave Sora was more questions and fewer answers. Of course, this outcome had been anticipated as of recent experiences during their journey.

"You're not playing _**fair**_!" The sudden yell caused the pair of Keyblade wielders, the Angel of Dreams, and the entire Cybersquad to turn their attention toward the source of the voice. Before their eyes stood a furious-faced Ledge glaring at them all.

Inez glared back. "You don't either, Ledge," she sneered. "I know because I once _trusted_ you, _**rat**_!"

Ledge only snorted in disapproval. "That's why Hacker gave me a second chance," he scoffed as he folded his arms. "And it's no wonder why!"

"Is that so?" Riku struck out, raising his Keyblade. "Well anyone giving into the Darkness doesn't know what they're _dealing_ with!"

"Yeah!" Sora agreed as he positioned his own Keyblade. "You're going _**down**_!"

Before Ledge could reply, a deep voice hollered from nearby, "_**Not**_ so fast!"

Out of the blue, Hacker's odd-looking vehicle drove into to the open square, pulled up to Ledge, and came to a stop facing the Keybladers. In the driver's seat was Hacker, wearing an evil smirk on his lips.

Digit glowered at the villain. "What're you up to, Hacker?"

Hacker's smirk darkened as he raised his right index finger high into the air. "Prepare to be amazed!" he proclaimed.

Acting fast, Hacker's finger flew to a button on the dashboard of his vehicle. The second the button had been pressed, the instant the vehicle began to wobble as it transformed. A gigantic fan with seven blades appeared on the front as a bullet-proof dome sealed up where Hacker was sitting. At the same time, a pair of bluish-colored mechanical arms with attached claws emerged from the sides of the yellow-tinted contraption.

Sora was now astounded. Hacker's vehicle had become a humungous street-cleaning machine with the addition of mechanical arms with claws. Perhaps he had underestimated the evil genius after all? Not a chance! There was _nothing_ anyone could do to prevent the spikey-haired teen from removing them from a seat of power that involved the powers of Darkness. Hacker was no exception.

Repositioning his weapon into his normal battle stance, Sora glowered at both Hacker and Ledge until the latter sped-walked across the plaza to rejoin Wicked, Buzz, Delete, and the vulture.

Noticing what his best friend was doing, Riku placed his own Keyblade into his usual "taunting" style. "We're not done yet!" the seventeen-year-old youth snapped aloud.

Before either of the two Keyblade wielders could make a single movement, Buzz and Delete sprinted over, taking positions around Hacker's vehicle. The very sight of Hacker's henchmen willingly assisting their boss in such circumstances made Sora shake his head. "_Yeesh_," he retorted. "No doubt he'd _**need**_ help!"

As the words escaped his mouth, Sora dashed into the square. Both Buzz and Delete ran after him, only to quickly realize the sixteen-year-old teenager had swerved to avoid them. The final result was a duo of robots slamming into one another, before falling over senseless.

Taking into account of how Sora had successfully avoided Hacker's henchmen, Riku charged into the fight. As the silver-haired teen darted past the enormous fan-shaped gizmo at the front of Hacker's vehicle, the blades began spinning in reverse. In less than a minute, Riku found himself getting sucked straight for the sharp, shiny blades.

"_**Riku**_!" Sora hollered as his friend was desperately attempting to break free of the suction from the fan. Receiving no response, the brown-haired Keyblade wielder sprinted over to rescue his best friend. Without warning, one of the mechanical arms snatched Sora clear off his feet. The Keyblader tried to break free, but the claws held him firmly in place.

* * *

Watching the entire sequence of events unfold before her eyes, Violet gasped with eyes full of terror. Both of the Keyblade wielders were now trapped by Hacker's machine without any hope of breaking free successfully. Perhaps she and the Cybersquad could… No way! If they were to swoop in and retrieve them, the entire group would be captured in a similar way, too. Not even Digit, Slider, or any of the others would have the opportunity to do much — if anything. For all Violet could tell, things seemed completely hopeless.

"Now just a second!"

The shout from the middle of nowhere shook everyone's focus (even Hacker's) from what they were doing. Whirling her eyes around the immediate vicinity, Violet spotted a silhouette perched on the summit of a peaked rooftop overlooking the area. Although it was difficult to make out, the Angel of Dreams did not have to squint her eyes to detect the medium-length, auburn-colored hair flowing from the figure's head. On top of it, they were clearly much thinner in comparison to even Jules. However, there was something that stood out about them.

"W-who's _that_?" Jules sputtered nervously. The young man swiftly hid behind Slider, his joints shaking in discomfort.

"Could it be a ghost?" Inez suggested.

"Maybe," Jackie pondered out loud. "Like Ivanca was."

"Hey!" Matt shouted towards Hacker. "It's a _ghost_!"

* * *

"_**Ghost**_?!" Hacker whimpered the instant the words had registered in his head. If there was anything he was terrified of more than being humiliated frequently by Digit and his friends… it was _**ghosts**_. The villain was so horrified from staring at the silhouette up above, his green skin began to turn pale as huge drops of sweat dribbled down his body and dripped from his pointy chin. In an act of fear, Hacker raised his arms in surrender.

* * *

All Violet could do was secretly snicker as she watched Hacker become terrified because of a simple silhouette. Based on what Matt, Jackie, Inez, and Digit had just informed her, the villain was horror-stricken whenever it came to real ghosts — especially the time Hacker had tried to swipe a pirate's treasure, only get punished by her ghost. The very concept made the angel only snicker all the more. Hacker wasn't so scary after all. In fact, he seemed to be more and more like a toddler behaving stupid in a daycare center for one reason or another. Still… that did seem a bit too harsh for anyone.

In the meantime, the mystery figure leaped from the rooftop onto the marble-stoned plaza. A flash of Light instantly followed, revealing the figure to be wielding a key-shaped sword with yellow-orange flowers upon the blade, a red handle, and sky-blue-tinted blade. Violet was awestruck; the unknown individual was a Keyblade wielder — just like Sora and Riku were.

As the figure strode out of the shadows, the lamps mounted onto the walls of the buildings revealed their outfit to consist of two red hiking boots, a golden-yellow skirt stretching from their waist down to a just below their knees, a pink-colored jacket above the skirt, and a hand-sized bag strapped over their upper body. Their eyes were the same shade of blue as both Sora and Riku's alike. The figure's skin was paler than anyone else the angel had ever known. Nestled in their hair over their eyes was a pair of bluish-yellow sunglasses. Violet was amazed.

The unforeseen visitor was a teenage girl.

Glaring straight at Hacker, the girl snarled, "You were complaining about not playing fair! Yet, here you're currently _**cheating**_ in what's supposed to be a fair fight!"

"I _**confess**_!" Hacker wept with fear. "I just had to win!"

"Yeah?" The girl shook her head in disbelief. "Then I'll just have to _even the __**odds**_!"

Almost like instinct, the girl speedily leaped in front of the fan's still-whirling blades. Before a mere moment had flown by, she stabbed her Keyblade directly into the middle. As the blades struck the weapon, they snapped clean off the contraption. In the blink of an eye, the vacuum of suction had vanished; Riku was freed from it.

Immediately following, the girl hopped onto the cockpit of the machine and reached her Keyblade out to the mechanical arm holding Sora in place. With a single slash of her weapon, the girl sliced the arm in half, causing the spikey-haired teenager to fall upon the ground unharmed. When the second mechanical arm moved in to seize her, the girl spun around as she sliced her weapon straight through. The broken arm stopped moving as its claw had been severed entirely.

Seeing all this one girl was doing, both Sora and Riku joined in as the girl leaped down to them. Pointing her weapon at what was left of the machine, she called out, "Let's do this!"

Comprehending everything she had said, both Riku and Sora pointed their Keyblades at the vehicle in turn. Three beams of Light shone out from the tips of the weapons. The beams merged into one before they struck the battle machine. In a flash of Light, the entire vehicle exploded into a flurry of bubbles, which popped soon after. Lying on the marble-stoned ground was a distraught Hacker. The villain was shocked; his entire contraption had been vaporized by a simple teenage girl! Not possible!

As he stood up, Hacker winced at the very sight of seeing the girl standing beside both Sora and Riku. He raised his arms in defeat. "_**Wait**_!" he cried. "I'll do _**anything**_!"

"_**Leave**_!" the girl demanded. "And _**never**_ come back!"

Hacker gulped as he nodded. Instantly afterwards, the villain made a hasty run for where Buzz and Delete were located. Both of the robots fled with their boss as he sped past. They all came to a halt on a specific area with the same vulture from before, Wicked, and Ledge. In the blink of an eye, a green-colored light shone down from above. As it faded, the whole gathering of villains had disappeared — teleported entirely out of _**Traverse Town**_.

As he put his Keyblade away, Sora smiled. Despite the odds, Riku, Violet, and he had successfully thwarted Hacker's evil scheme before it was too late. The Cybersquad wouldn't have to worry about the villains for a long time.

Turning to face the strange girl, Sora said, "Thanks for saving us!"

The girl shrugged. "It… was nothing!"

"We did it!" Digit yelled with joy as the entire Cybersquad and Violet joined Sora, Riku, and the girl.

"Way to go!" Jackie shouted with glee.

"Nice one!" Slider stated as he High-Fived the strange girl.

"So," Sora placed his hands behind his head. "What's next?"

The reply came in less than an instant. "Let's go to the Manor," the girl recommended. "There's something I'd like all of you to see awaiting there."

Though confused about what the girl was referring to, the others had no objections. The whole group followed the girl as she led them all through the plaza until they reached an open doorway on the other side.

* * *

One look at the Manor, and Sora was speechless. The building consisted of four floors with blue-colored walls on the outside. An orange-colored roof peaked at the top while a miniature staircase led up to a large, green-colored doorway at the front. Two lamps were mounted on the wall on each side of the doorway.

As they all stepped across a wooden bridge over a tiny creek, Violet pulled her arms in close as they all stepped through an iron gate with stone walls on either side of it. One look at the walls was all Riku needed to arrive at the conclusion they resembled the Mansion from _**Twilight Town**_. The only notable difference was a series of barbed wire on top instead of sharp spokes.

Upon reached the white-stone steps out front, Sora asked, "So, what'd you want to show us?"

The girl turned to him. "You'll know in a moment."

After having the whole group stop, the girl stepped up a couple of steps. She turned to face the others before asking for Violet to come forward. Instantly, the Angel of Dreams stepped up as the girl re-summoned her Keyblade. She handed it to the angel before letting go. The weapon disappeared from the angel's hands a mere instant later.

"Huh?" a mystified Matt asked.

"What just happened?" Digit added.

"Who knows?" Fluff shrugged in puzzlement.

As the girl opened the door of the building, Sora's voice stopped her. "Just… who _are_ you?"

The girl smiled at the brown-haired Keyblader. "My name is Sandora Hikari. I'll see you later, Sora — _the_ _**Keyblader**_!"

With that, Sandora stepped through the doorway, closing the door behind her. Once she had departed, Violet stepped up, opened the door and peered inside. "Funny," she remarked. "She's not here."

"Maybe she _was_ a ghost." Slider offered.

No one else could tell what had just taken place before them, even as Sora was wondering what Sandora had meant by "I'll see you later, Sora… " Neither of them had met before now. Perhaps there was another reason entirely?

A bright flash of Light knocked the spikey-haired youth from his thought process. Everyone in the area was speechless. In Violet's hands was a key-like weapon with a violet-colored blade and neon-tinted handle. The handle was a perfect circle while the blade had three points instead of the typical two from Sora's weapon.

"A… _**Keyblade**_?!" Riku and Sora both exclaimed in realization.

Violet was astounded. "You mean," she stammered, barely able to bring out the words. "I'm… a… Keyblade… wielder… _**too**_?!"

"Yeah!" Sora acknowledged with a goofy-looking grin. Riku shook his head and smiled.

_**BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!**_

The sounds of beeping filled their eyes. Digit excused himself for a moment before pulling out a small gadget. He exclaimed, "_**Motherboard**_!"

Before anyone could answer, a humungous projection formed on the side of the Manor's walls. In the projection was the face of a bluish-tinted woman with sky-blue, ruffled hair, curved eyebrows, pyramid-shaped nose, and red lips. Her left eye was shaped like a circle; her right eye was rectangular. The screen flashed occasionally as the woman spoke in a computer-sounding voice. "Well done, Cybermates!"

"Yup!" Matt agreed as everyone else nodded.

Spotting Sora, Riku, and Violet, the woman asked, "And who might these three be?"

"I'm Sora," Sora introduced them. "He's Riku and she's Violet."

"I am Motherboard," the woman explained. "I am the protector of all _Cyberspace_. Thanks to your help, the Cybersquad is safe and sound — and Hacker's scheme has been foiled once again!"

"All in a day's work!" Sora beamed. Riku and Violet secretly giggled at the irony in the sixteen-year-old teen's words.

"Good job!" Motherboard congratulated them. She turned her attention back to Matt, Jackie, Inez, Digit, Widget, Slider, Fluff, and Jules. "It's time to come home, Cybermates!"

In the blink of an eye, a pinkish-colored portal spontaneously came to be in the middle of the projection. The Cybersquad turned back to the now-three Keyblade wielders.

"If you're ever in _Cyberspace_," Inez smiled. "Look us up!"

"You know it!" Sora nodded. "We're friends after all!"

"Yeah!" Riku approved.

"Good bye!" Violet waved.

Slider shook his head. "Not 'good bye'. Just… 'So long'! We'll see you guys soon."

As he stepped forwards, Slider added, "Until then… "

A series of handshakes followed. After one final round of waves, Matt, Jackie, Inez, Digit, Widget, Slider, Fluff, and Jules all dove into the portal leading back into _Cyberspace_.

After the portal disappeared from view, a bright Light seized the focus of Sora, Riku, and Violet alike. Up above where the portal had been was the all-too-familiar form of another keyhole shape giving off a brilliant glow.

"You ready for this?" Riku inquired to Violet as both he and Sora pointed their weapons upward.

Pointing her new Keyblade towards the keyhole shape, the Angel of Dreams smiled. "Yes!"

Sora gave a nod. "In that case, here we go!"

Three balls of Light formed on the tips of the weapons, which shone out as three beams of Light. The beams merged a few inches from the keyhole shape before striking it directly. As the Sleeping Keyhole unlocked, the familiar image of the tunnel of Light formed before the group's very eyes. With their hands at their sides, Sora, Riku, and Violet all leaped straight into the tunnel of Light before it sealed up behind them.

**Traverse Town** was no longer trapped within the Realm of Sleep.

* * *

"Pete! You big _**thug**_!" Donald snapped across the Library in Disney Castle. It hadn't taken three minutes upon arrival for Launchpad to lead King Mickey, Donald, and Goofy straight to where Maleficent and Pete were awaiting their presence. At the moment, Pete had Queen Minnie wrapped tightly in his arms.

From where he stood in front of the curved bookshelf, Pete laughed evilly. "'Thug' works for me!"

"Yeah?" Launchpad snarled. "So does '_brainless __**idiot**_'!"

Donald rolled his eyes in disbelief as he shook his head. Last he recalled, his Uncle Scrooge had referred to the pilot as a 'brainless idiot' for forgetting to bring a single map on an international flight to the middle of nowhere.

"Gawrsh," Goofy contemplated aloud. "I thought Pete was a 'simple-minded coward', right?"

"_That is_ _**enough**_!" Maleficent snapped, forcing Pete to cover his mouth in shame. "_**No**_ lackey of mine shall be humiliated so!"

With his hand still clamped over his lips, Pete nodded. He gave a sigh of relief. For a few seconds, it appeared the evil witch was about to lecture him for bringing up such a "ridiculous conversation in the middle of an important deal" — as she would have said.

"I have 'special' plans for dear Pete-y," Maleficent went on to say. "Not to mention, a few _others_ I've recently joined sides with as well."

Mickey continued to glare all the while. "What do you want, Maleficent?"

With one swift glance around the room, the witch spoke. "Shall I begin with this world?"

"You're _**lying**_!" Mickey accused, indicating the fallacy in the villainess's claim. "Even _you_ wouldn't have gone through _this_ much trouble for that, Maleficent! As it is, the Cornerstone of Light would stop you!"

Both Donald and Goofy stared at each other in surprise. Had they completely forgotten to tell the King about how Maleficent had attempted to conquer their world by sending Pete into the past to steal the Cornerstone from before the castle would've been built? Perhaps Queen Minnie had mentioned it at some point? Perhaps… not.

With a deep sigh, Maleficent gave an evil grin. "Do you recall the name 'Xehanort'?"

Mickey gasped. "You _**know**_ him?!"

"Yes," Maleficent answered with a snicker; everything was going according to her plan. "I spoke with him once about the heart of all worlds and the Princesses of Heart. He said to gather them together and Kingdom Hearts would be mine."

"What does that have to do with this?" Mickey asked.

Pete grinned evilly at the scowling faces of Mickey, Donald, Goofy, and Launchpad as Maleficent finished, "To that end, I want the 'data' so I can recreate my Heartless military to accomplish my goal. You _do_ still have it? Right?"

Mickey, Donald, and Goofy all jumped in astonishment; Launchpad was perplexed. "What 'data' do you mean?" the pilot questioned out loud.

Pete growled in disapproval. "Don't play stupid with us! Maleficent and I were trapped right in there with you, see? So hand it over!"

"What do _**you**_ want with the data-scape?" Mickey asked.

Maleficent snorted. "That is no concern of yours!"

Mickey only glared as he summoned his Keyblade. "_**Forget**_ _**it**_! You're not getting _**anything**_!"

"_**Un-uh**_!" Pete warned, clutching Minnie tighter. "We wouldn't want Her Majesty getting _**hurt**_! Now would we?"

Mickey's glare intensified greatly. However, before anyone could do anything, a dark portal appeared in one corner of the room — directly to Donald's right. A flame-engulfed chakram came flying into the room and headed towards Pete. It missed by a few centimeters, only to get stuck into the bookshelf instead. A moment later, a second fiery chakram flew into view and barely slit Pete's neck (the villain had barely dodged it).

Taking advantage of her captor's hands no longer keeping her imprisoned, Minnie hollered, "_**Light**_!"

A pillar of blue Light magically formed above Pete before smashing down onto his head. Without wasting a single moment more, Minnie darted up to Mickey. The two embraced for a quick second before turning back to scowl at Maleficent with Donald, Goofy, and Launchpad. "Y'know Maleficent," Mickey snarled. "You _**lose**_!"

Maleficent growled in anger. Her fists clenched tightly around her staff. "Very well," she scoffed. "The rest of my Council is waiting! But know _**this**_! In the end, I shall have the _**final**_ victory instead!"

With an evil laugh, Maleficent opened her own dark portal before proceeding inside. As the passageway began to close, Pete ran inside. "Wait for _**me**_, Maleficent!"

Once the duo of evildoers had departed, all eyes whirled to where a tall man with spiked, fiery-red hair stepped into the room wearing the cloak of the former Organization XIII. He was followed by a teenage girl with reddish-hair spiking downwards. She was wearing a yellow shirt, blue mini-skirt, orange boots, and sea-green jacket. Tied around her waist was a blue scarf, while a blue bracelet was on her left wrist.

"So," the man smirked. "Looks like I missed _both_ times."

The girl crossed her arms. "You're _**always**_ missing!"

"Right… and who was the one challenging the beast in that torn-up room?"

"Hey! If _**you**_ hadn't gotten lost trying to get here, we wouldn't have been there! He thought you were some weirdo named 'Xaldin'!"

"Ha! _That's_ a laugh!"

Mickey shook his head in dissatisfaction. "You _both_ used the Darkness to get here? That was _**reckless**_!"

All at once, the mouse king realized who the pair were. "Welp," he muttered. "I didn't expect you two to save us, Axel and Niccole."

Niccole nodded while the man shook his head. "Axel didn't," he stated. "My name is _**Lea**_!"

With his finger pointing at his forehead, Lea added one final statement. "Got it memorized?"

* * *

**A/N: THUS DID THE _CYBERCHASE_ SECTIONS COME TO A CLOSE... {GIVES SEVERAL LONG MINUTES OF SILENCE}  
Yet, it was GREAT TO SEE - READ IT NEVERTHELESS!**

**As it is, you've probably figured it out by now. The Giant was WILLIE THE GIANT from _FUN AND FANCY FREE (1947)_.**

**By the way, here's the second-half of the HINT from before!  
HINT: _" ...THERE WAS A BOY AND A BEAR!"_**

**Altogether, it reads; _"ONCE UPON THE LAST DAY OF A GOLDEN SUMMER... ...THERE WAS A BOY AND A BEAR!"_**

**IF you believe you might know what Disney Movie this HINT is referring to, PLEASE POST your answers in the REVIEWS for THIS Chapter!**

**As I've SAID and CLARIFIED on multiple occasions, PLEASE DON'T LEAVE WITHOUT REVIEWING! THE FATE OF THIS STORY DEPENDS ON IT!**

**This is SoraLego278 saying, "See Ya Later, Keybladers!"**


	24. Ch24 - Leaping Into Literature

**DISCLAIMER: I OWN NOTHING EXCEPT MY ORIGINAL CHARACTERS!**

**A/N: Thanks you so very much for waiting! I sort of... fell behind with a class, and as such, put this Chapter on delay - UNTIL TODAY!**

**Anyways, I SIGNIFICANTLY APPRECIATE the amount of REVIEWS I've been receiving as of late! IF this keeps up, we'll reach the goal of 100 OR MORE IN NO TIME!**

**So, I took notice of all the guesses you gave in regards to the next Disney-based world - THIS ONE! There's a Rumor that it's going to be based on The Jungle Book...  
Well... I'll remind you that the HINT I gave was SPLIT INTO TWO PARTS!**

**You could go back and re-read the WHOLE HINT as I put BOTH parts at the end of Chapter 23. Otherwise, you could go right ahead and find out for yourself by reading on.**

**Still, you'll need to know I decided to try something new and open this ENTIRE WORLD WITH A FLASHBACK!**

**Whatever you decide, I've leave it at that. Just... PLEASE READ AND REVIEW ALIKE!**

* * *

**CHAPTER 24  
Leaping Into Literature**

_Upon rolling to a complete halt at the base of the overlooking hilltop he had stumbled off from, a young boy of about age six or seven years gently helped the bear off his stomach as the former sat up straight. "Pooh," he began. "There's something I have to tell you."_

_With an enormous smile on his face, the bear enquired, "Is it something nice?"_

_The boy sighed as his facial expression drooped downwards. "Not exactly… "_

"_Then it can wait," the bear stated as he started chasing a small, blue butterfly that had snatched his attention barely a minute before._

"_It __**can**__?!" The boy exclaimed as he stood up in surprise. "For how long?"_

_The bear continued to leap up every few moments as the insect led him to the other side of the hilltop. "Forever and ever!"_

_The boy was beyond shocked. He rapidly followed the bear back up the hill. "Forever and ever is a very long time, Pooh."_

"_Forever isn't long at all," the bear clarified as the butterfly suddenly flew well out of reach. "When I'm with you."_

_The boy nodded when a thought entered his head. "What if there came a tomorrow… when we were… apart?"_

_The bear started climbing up the wide trunk of a gigantic tree perched on the summit of the knoll. "As long as we're apart together, we should be fine."_

"_Yes, of course," the boy admitted, realizing his approach wasn't working. "But what if we weren't together? What if I were, say… somewhere else?"_

"_Oh, but you really __**couldn't**__ be," the bear answered as he attempted to grab a pair of glowing fireflies flittering about the branches. "Cause I'd be quite lost without you."_

_The boy started climbing after his friend. "Pooh, we… "_

"'_**We**__'," the bear enunciated. "We simply wouldn't _**be**_!"_

_Before too long, the bear had finally given up chasing the two insects and leaned his back against the trunk. He yawned while the boy reached him. "Oh, Pooh!"_

_Clambering to where he was directly in front of the bear, the boy spoke up, "If there ever came a tomorrow when weren't together, all you'd have to do is remember."_

_The bear yawned very groggily. "And what might that be, Christopher Robin?"_

_The boy smiled. "'You're __**braver**__ than you believe, and __**stronger**__ than you seem, and __**smarter**__ than you think!'"_

"_Oh, that's easy!" the bear giggled with exhaustion in his voice. "'We're braver than a beam, and longer than a tree, and taller than a goose!' Or was that a… 'moose'?"_

"_No, you silly old bear!" the boy laughed softly. "'You're __**braver**__ than you believe, and __**stronger**__ than you seem, and… __**smarter**__ than you think!"_

_As the bear dozed off, a series of loud SNORTs came from his open mouth. Spotting the duo of lightning bugs hovering above, the boy slowly extended his arm. The insects wasted little time to land on the kid's hand._

"_But," the boy whispered as he carefully placed the insects into his friend's folded hands and smiled brilliantly. "Even if we are apart… I'll always be with you!"_

'**Always be with you… '**

* * *

The instant the tunnel of tranquility came to yet another closure, Sora, Riku, and Violet came soaring out of the Light and into a pile of brown and red leaves. The sounds of crunching filled their ears as the three scrambled to their feet. Looking around where they had ended up, Riku took into account of the multitude of trees towering overhead. For a brief second, he assumed they had shrunk like in _**Pixie Hollow**_. The next, it dawned on him how the surrounding scenery was no bigger than it should have been. He spotted a dirt path leading through the area like the trail connecting the school back on _**Destiny Islands**_ to the sandy waterfront. Based on the amount of foliage around, the silver-haired teenager assumed the group had arrived in a place possessing a similar layout to _**Twilight Town**_'s forested section. The height of the trees was plenty to make him ponder what world they had stumbled upon in the Realm of Sleep. Nothing about the immediate environment gave any form of hints as to its 'special characteristics.'

Recalling how each world had long since developed individual aspects that made it unique in comparison to anywhere else, Riku sat upon a log nearby. He started thinking back over the individualism of the previous worlds that were now awakened.

He had long since known _**Traverse Town**_ was intended to be a safe haven for anyone whose worlds had either been lost to the Darkness or happened to no longer possess a specific place to claim residency in. The Cybersquad probably had ended up there as they had been forced out of their own universe and needed someplace to stay for the time being.

The main characteristic he could think of for _**Corona**_ was how Rapunzel's hair possessed supernatural powers, which included the ability to heal anyone from sickness and/or injury. Other than her, there was nothing he could classify being different from any other worlds he had visited prior to then.

As for _**Pixie Hollow**_, Riku had a difficult time deciding on a one-of-a-kind characteristic. Although Tinker Bell did have an exceptionally rare talent for a fairy, it didn't appear as exclusive alongside what other worlds had. Then again… he had overlooked the truth entirely. The world of fairies was a segment of the world called _**Never Land**_, which meant all of _**Pixie Hollow**_ was unique. It happened to be the "secret heart" of _**Never Land**_ itself.

According to what Jiminy Cricket had claimed, the amusement part in _**Rascal's Dreamland**_ was under a curse. Any boys who got into all sorts of trouble would be transformed into donkeys if they were to play there too long. That, and the existence of the Blue Fairy.

The single characteristic of _**The Grid**_ happened to be the world's environment as data-made. Not to mention it had initially been created by a human named Kevin Flynn, who stated he originally intended to mold it into a perfect paradise. Unfortunately, he hadn't considered his own creation, CLU, betraying him, taking control of the system, and wishing to invade whatever was on the other side of the Portal.

Despite being in deep contemplation, Riku was now on the verge of questioning what stood out about the new world he had just entered with Sora and Violet. How far would they have to travel to learn its secrets? Would they run across any of its inhabitants along the way? When would the distinctiveness of the immediate vicinity be revealed? Most importantly, where would they locate the world's Sleeping Keyhole?

"Riku, what're you doing?"

Taken from his deep deliberating, Riku swung his head upwards; his eyes wide open in alarm. The figure standing over him was shrouded by the sun's dazzling rays peering through the treetops. Feeling something recognizable in regards to the silhouette above, the silver-haired youth squinted to terminate the solar glare from his view. He relaxed; the individual was a sight he had grown accustomed to — the Angel of Dreams, Violet.

"Nothing much," Riku responded timidly. "Just thinking about… stuff."

Violet gave a nod as a tiny grin formed on her face. Throughout her experiences with the silver-haired youth, the angel had grown used to the latter's atypical behavior. Every now and then, she noticed how his actions were gradually becoming more and more like his best friend, Sora. This transfer seemed to be going both ways; Sora was slowly turning into Riku. The angel inquired, "Were you thinking about how you are starting to become more like Sora?"

Riku stared in silence. "What do you mean by that?"

Violet was quivering with anxiety for a mere instant. Staring ahead to the scenery behind Riku's back, she speedily chose to change the topic of their conversation. "What's that?" she questioned a moment later, pointing where she was looking.

Bewildered about what the angel was referring to, Riku casually turned his body into the direction the former was indicating. He nearly jumped in astonishment, quickly realizing he hadn't taken the time to survey the entire vicinity around their immediate location.

An enormous, wide tree was planted less than ten feet from the log; its branches were shedding their once-living leaves. Built directly into the trunk before them was a door with a rectangular-shaped frame crafted from wood. Above the doorway was a sign bearing the name, "_**Mr. Sanders**_" in golden letters. To the left of the sign was a little, blue-tinted bell with a string usually used to tie one's shoes. Between the bell's string and the door was another sign nailed attached to the framework by a rusted nail. It read,

"_**RNIG ALSO"**_

Taking a closer examination of the doorstep, Riku took note of a number of empty pots piled up beside the entranceway. The pleasant scent of something sweet was drifting through the air from within. "Whoever lives here," he commented, gazing at the smaller sign. "Probably meant to write 'Ring the bell'."

Violet nodded. "Maybe this 'Mr. Sanders' has difficulty with spelling?"

Riku acknowledged with a nod of his own. The angel had made an interesting observation; the name inscribed over the door more-than-likely was that of the owner. Unless someone else had moved in and never taken the sign down. He opened his mouth to speak and was cut off by a shout from behind.

"_**Pooh Bear's **__house_?!"

Whirling around on their feet, the silver-haired Keyblade wielder and the Angel of Dreams found themselves face-to-face with an awestruck Sora. The brown, spikey-haired sixteen-year-old was staring at the tree in silence; his eyelids were open wider than ever as the titanic-sized smile appeared on his face. "It _**is**_! I know where we are!"

Riku and Violet stared startlingly at one another. Somehow Sora was acquainted with the world they had set foot in. The last time the spikey, brown-haired teenager had recognized their surroundings was when the group had entered the data-created world comprising of _**The Grid**_. All it had taken was a swift glimpse of their outfits to conclude they were inside a world the sixteen-year-old had visited sometime prior. It wasn't until after Sam Flynn mentioned the named "Tron" that Sora's hypothesis was confirmed.

Nevertheless, Riku and the angel were puzzled in terms of which world they had come across. If Sora actually knew where the trio had arrived to during their quest to awaken the seven Sleeping Worlds, the pair would do whatever they could to find out what it was called. Turning back to face his best friend, Riku questioned, "You do?"

Sora gave a nod. That was precisely what Violet needed to ask, "What's this place called?"

When the query had entered his ears, Sora froze. He hadn't foreseen either of his friends inquiring him as to the world's true identity. Rather than wish to just tell them straightforward, the brown-haired Keyblade wielder made up his mind to show them instead. Spinning around in the direction the dirt path proceeded into the distance away from the house, Sora waved the others to follow. "C'mon!"

While still perplexed due to not receiving any answer to their latest question, Violet and Riku rapidly gave chase as Sora led them down the path and through the forest.

* * *

About five minutes had flown past by the time Sora came to a halt on the edge of a wide, open clearing. After Riku and Violet had finally reached his location, Sora gestured into the distance. "Over there!"

Moving their eyes to where the brown, spikey-haired Keyblader was indicating, both Violet and the silver-haired teen spotted a very large hill rising over the landscape. From their position, the left side of the hilltop slid gracefully down to its base. However, the right side included an overlook with a drop curving inwards as it led to the ground below. At the summit of the mount was a humungous tree that appeared to be watching over the whole glade. Scattered all about the vicinity were a multitude of fallen leaves in a variety of red, orange, and yellow shades. A gentle breeze was carefully yanking more leaves from the thick branches upon the tree.

Even though Violet was still confused, Riku remembered how Sora had described such a hill to him in the process of telling about his earlier adventures. He looked closer until the shape of an empty swing caught his eye; the piece of playground equipment was poking along as the wind brushed against it. There was only one world Sora had told him about bearing such a sight, and Riku was certain he knew what it was.

Sora, Riku, and Violet had stumbled upon the world known as **The 100-Acre Wood**.

* * *

As Riku took a minute to sweep their eyes across the current area, he heard Sora mutter, "Funny… I could've sworn this world was _never_ lost to Darkness."

Whirling his eyes back, Riku was astounded. "What?"

"I sealed its keyhole," Sora continued. "How is it asleep?"

Taking all this information in, Violet spoke up, "Are you sure? It could be like in when we went to _**The Grid**_."

Sora paused. "Maybe," he pondered aloud. "But I'm not sure… "

Riku thought for a few seconds. "Perhaps we should take a look around?"

Sora nodded the instant the silver-haired youth had spoken. "Yeah," he approved. "Let's go!"

Leading the way once more, Sora took both Riku and Violet across a wooden bridge built over a creek on the right end of the giant hill. From there, they proceeded down another dirt path through more of the forest.

* * *

Barely ten minutes had passed before the group reached yet another clearing in the woods. As they stepped though, Sora pointed out an extremely tall tree at the center of the area. Like the last one, a wooden doorway was positioned in the middle of the trunk, though it was a tad bit smaller in size. Around ten feet from the door stood a medium-height sign bearing the words,

"_**Trespassers Will…"**_

Standing at the doorstep was a small, golden-furred bear wearing a red T-shirt. In his hands was an even tinier pot decorated in a light-blue color with a matching lid. Despite the fact the bear was staring upwards, Sora's eyes grew larger than ever as he instantly recalled the bear's name.

"Pooh!" he proclaimed, sprinting over to greet his friend. Both Riku and Violet quickly followed behind.

The moment the bear heard Sora's voice, the second he turned his head to spot the duo of Keybladers and the angel darting over to him. As soon as he was close enough, Sora stopped and knelt down to the bear. "Hey, Pooh Bear!" he smiled cheerfully.

The bear stared at the sixteen-year-old youth with perplexity for a moment. He quickly giggled to himself before speaking. "And hello to you, too… Somebody-I-Don't-Know!"

Sora was taken aback. Had he been mistaken? Was this not the bear he had come to know from within Merlin's book? Had Pooh lost his memory all over again?! Perhaps the best thing for him to do was simply introduce himself — just to be safe.

"I'm Sora," Sora announced before gesturing to his two companions standing behind him. "He's Riku and she's Violet."

The bear nodded in understanding. "I'm Winnie the Pooh — _Pooh_ for short. Nice to meet you all! Happy Autumn!"

Riku nodded back along with Sora and Violet. From what he could tell, Riku was certain Pooh was just as nice and loyal as he had been told by Sora. The brown, spikey-haired Keyblade wielder had made a great choice for a friend — for once.

"So, what's up?" Sora inquired.

In reply to Sora's question, Pooh looked straight up into the branches of the tree. "Piglet is up," he stated, pointing to the top of the foliage.

Leaning back to see what the bear was referring to, Sora, Riku, and Violet noticed a very, very small animal clinging to a half-snapped twig dangling from the highest point on the tree. He had pink skin and was wearing a magenta jumpsuit with black stripes. His eyes were slammed shut and his hands covered them with fright.

"_**Piglet**_!" Sora exclaimed in alarm.

Before anyone could say anything more, a blur of movement came flying into the area, knocking straight into Sora. The brown-haired teenager was thrown onto his back in a matter of seconds. Perched on top of him was a tiger with orange and black stripes, a spring-y tail, and a large smile on his face. "Hello," the tiger declared in a deep voice. "I'm _**Tigger**_! Tee-eye-double-guh-err! That spells 'Tigger'!"

Now Riku and Violet were looking at each other in confusion. Did the tiger just misspell his own name? Was it an accident? Or on purpose? How would they know?

"Well now," Tigger said, taking a closer look over the teenager he had pounced on. "I don't think I've ever seen _you_ before!"

"Hello Tigger," Pooh spoke as he strode over. "You just bounced my new friend, Sora."

It took a few glances between both Pooh and the one he had landed onto before Tigger leapt off Sora's chest. As the spikey-haired youth stood back up, he said, "Tigger, could you help Piglet?"

Looking which way Sora was gesturing, Tigger spotted Piglet dangling from the same twig. With a loud voice, Tigger yelled up, "_Relax_, Piglet, Ol' Pal! There's no difference between plunging ten thousand feet to the jagged rocks below and… um… tumbling out of bed!"

Piglet was struck by a sudden wave of calmness. "Really?" he called back down.

"Why sure," Tigger laughed for a minute. "Except for the _splat_ at the end, they're practically similar!"

Riku rolled his eyes as Violet slapped her right hand against her forehead in total disbelief. If this was Tigger's idea of reassurance, there was no way it would be successful. As expected, Piglet's relieved expression hastily turned back into his terror-stricken one. "_**Christopher Robin**_!" he screamed louder than before.

Tigger paused for a few moments, rubbing his hand along the bottom of his chin. After a careful analysis of the situation, he finally spoke. "Trapped in the clutches of terror, eh?"

"Yeah," Riku agreed, feeling somewhat annoyed of how the tiger was pointing out the obvious. "So what're you going to do about it?"

A twinkle of light gleamed in Tigger's eyes. "Guess I'd better just bounce up there and get him down! It'll take a world's record bounce!"

Without another word, Tigger hopped onto his tail before launching himself clear into the branches of the tree. When Piglet was within his grasp he reached out, only to miss by a few inches. As the tiger began the long descent downwards, he glared at his tail. "What's the matter with you?! Being a second-rate bouncer is _**not**_ what Tigger's like best!"

In the blink of an eye, Tigger hit the ground, sending a vibration that knocked a number of acorns from the surrounding foliage onto the spectating eyes of Sora, Riku, Violet, and Pooh.

Before Tigger could reach the half-broken limb, it snapped free, plunging directly for the ground below with Piglet still cowering on it. Unable to swerve out of the way, Tigger found himself bonked on the head by Piglet as the limb collided into the tiger. The two fell straight back to the ground with an enormous _**CRASH!**_

Sora and the others wobbled as the impact had sent a massive shockwave through the whole vicinity. Violet found herself immediately summoning her brand-new Keyblade automatically, even though there wasn't a single Nightmare in sight. Sora and Riku's Keyblades also appeared spontaneously, which brought looks of surprise upon their faces. What circumstances would provoke their weapons to materialize without their control? The last time such an event had taken place was after Sora and Riku had defeated Ursula in the storm at the beginning of their journey. Their Keyblades had simply appeared and unlocked the gateway leading into the Realm of Sleep itself. However, that had been back on _**Destiny Islands**_, which now felt like ages ago. So, why were their weapons choosing to come to them at this point?

As the ground stopped moving, Pooh pointed upwards. "_Look_!" he exclaimed.

Wondering what the bear had noticed, Riku, Violet, and Sora did not have to wait long for a response. Acorns began falling from above in the same manner of raindrops pouring from the clouds above during a thunderstorm. In a matter of seconds, Sora, Riku, Violet, Pooh, Piglet, and Tigger found themselves shoved along by the nuts forming what resembled a tidal-wave flowing through the trees.

* * *

Barely ten minutes had passed before the flood of acorns headed into a patch of open fields. As they flowed through, Sora and the others found themselves accompanied by a tall, slender rabbit sporting yellow fur, thin arms, and a white cottontail; he was filled with so much shock, he was speechless.

"Hello, Rabbit!" Pooh declared as he got the bunny's attention.

Next thing the entire gathering knew, they had rolled straight into a meadow where a donkey had been assembling a bunch of sticks together into a tent-like shape. He was a grayish color with a black mane, light-grey muzzle, droopy eyes, long ears, and a tail with a pink bow nailed onto his backside. The donkey was sighing to himself, "Not much of a house, just right for not much of a donkey."

Unfortunately for him, the donkey found himself rammed into by the flood of acorns, which swept him straight into the house of sticks he had finished building moments before. As the wave of nuts finally dispersed and came to a halt, the donkey sighed. "Easy come, easy go."

Clambering back onto his feet from where he had spiraled upon the short grass of the glade, Sora took a second to survey the aftermath of the sudden phenomenon. Tigger had gotten himself stuck in a small bush, and Piglet was trying to pull the tiger out. Pooh was already on his feet and talking to Rabbit, who continued to slip on a bunch of acorns beneath his feet. Riku had crawled out of a patch of bushes near Tigger and Violet was watching her every step as she approached where Riku was now brushing off his clothing. Relieved to know no one had gotten injured, Sora stepped over to where Pooh and Rabbit were.

"Rabbit," Pooh asked. "Would you happen to have… a… um… Christopher Robin about you?"

"_No_!" Rabbit yelled in reply. "I haven't seen him!"

"Bother!" Pooh sighed in defeat.

"Huh?" Sora questioned as he approached the bear and rabbit. "Who's 'Christopher Robin'?"

"My very best, best friend," Pooh explained with a sigh. "If only I could find him. He could tell me whose honey this is."

Sora paused in thought for a minute. If he recalled correctly, no one he knew from this world was named Christopher Robin. Perhaps Pooh was trapped in some dream where Sora was supposed to play the role of the unknown individual? That failed to make any sense to the brown-haired Keyblade wielder.

"Well, it isn't mine," Rabbit snorted as Sora came back to reality. "And I _don't_ have time. It's Harvest Day — says so in the _**book**_!"

With one blur of movement, Tigger swiped the pot from Pooh's hands before pouncing onto Rabbit. "Well of course it's _mine_!" he proclaimed out loud. "It's got my name scribbled all over it!"

Dipping his paw into the soupy mixture inside, Tigger took a bite of something extra sticky and sweet. He froze when Sora indicated, "Tigger, I didn't know _you_ liked honey!"

Tigger was alarmed; he hadn't considered what was actually inside the pot Pooh had been carrying around. "_**Honey**_?!" he exclaimed aloud. "_**Blech**_! Tiggers do _**not**_ like honey!"

Now Sora was puzzled. For a brief second, it appeared he had learned something new about his friend. Instead, he had just re-watched the tiger jump to a conclusion without any solid facts. Such a concept wasn't uncommon; Sora himself tended to do such things. Once, he had nearly gotten himself killed by a woman until Goofy had shoved her aside with his shield while Donald healed Sora from the pain he had been suffering. Together, the three managed to bring an end to the woman, which apparently had been a member of the now-vanquished Organization XIII.

He froze in place. When did such an event occur? From all of his travels, Sora couldn't place that specific occurrence anywhere along the way. Why was he recollecting it if it never happened in the first place? How was that possible to begin with?

"It isn't mine," the donkey spoke up, taking Sora from his contemplation. "Then again, few things are."

Sora was amazed. "_**Eeyore**_!" he exclaimed. "How long have you been there?"

"Long enough," Eeyore sighed. "Thanks for noticing me."

"He sure seems sad," Violet commented as she and Riku strode over.

"Yeah," Sora admitted. "You'd get used to it after a while."

Riku shook his head and smiled. Sora's detailed description of the gloomy donkey was precisely how the silver-haired youth had imagined it.

"If only Christopher Robin were here," Pooh sighed from nearby. "He could tell me whose honey this is."

Rabbit had heard enough. Spotting a honey-covered piece of paper on the side of the pot, he pulled it off before handing to the bear. "Why don't you check the _**note**_ and find out!"

One glance at the parchment and Pooh's eyes lit up. "A note!" he enthusiastically stated. "I'll just read it!"

After a few moments, Pooh's smile disappeared. "Or would… if I could."

Grinning at Rabbit once more, the bear enquired, "Perhaps you can read it for me?"

Rabbit scowled as he took back the piece of paper. "I could read this with my eyes closed!" he announced.

"Really?" Tigger gasped in astonishment. "That's quite a _talent_ you've got there!"

Ignoring the tiger's random comment, Rabbit cleared his throat as he proceeded to read the smeared text. "It says, 'Ih-weigh… egg-no… o-hum… ba-ooh-foo… beg-eir… sea-lee-uh… awe-moov… goo-goo… moo-gum… burbum… eel-ya… beel-ya… oola… '"

Rabbit looked up in a state of utter mystification. Nearby, Sora, Riku, and Violet all stared at each other in surprise and wonder. Apparently Rabbit wasn't able to make out any real words inscribed on the page either. After all this, Riku had finally arrived at the conclusion that not a single resident living in this world knew how to read, let along spell. It was no shock that the sign beside the door was miswritten, too. It was a normal characteristic everyone there shared with one another.

Handing the paper back to Pooh, Rabbit snorted. "I _could've_ read it if Tigger hadn't bounced me so!" he accused.

"Then who can read it?" Piglet questioned aloud.

Sora thought for a minute when he remembered about a particular figure he had encountered who seemed to possess knowledge pertaining to anything anyone would wish to know.

"Why don't we pay a visit to Owl?" Sora suggested.

* * *

**A/N: ...I think I know what you're thinking... WHERE'S THE JUNGLE BOOK?! Well, I DID say there was more to the HINT than what most of you were probably reading!**

**It goes: "_ONCE UPON THE LAST DAY OF A GOLDEN SUMMER... THERE WAS A BOY AND A BEAR_!"  
Does that STILL sound like The Jungle Book to you?**

**Actually, those are the EXACT WORDS in the opening line for the Disney Movie this world is based upon!  
Therefore, the title of the Disney Movie is _POOH'S GRAND ADVENTURE: THE SEARCH FOR CHRISTOPHER ROBIN (1997)_, which was my favorite movie involving Winnie The Pooh when I was younger - and... in a way... still is.**

**Before I sign off once again, PLEASE DON'T LEAVE WITHOUT REVIEWING! THE FATE OF THIS STORY DEPENDS ON IT!**

**This is SoraLego278 saying, "See Ya Later, Keybladers!"**


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